Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki

I don't think I've ever called a book life changing. Being a procrastinator at heart, whenever a book says “close this book and take this action NOW” my response is “nah later.” 

Well Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism is life changing and I'm already taking action. For the record, I am not becoming a minimalist. At least I am not planning to. I won't get down to just one small towel. I won't have just one plate. But I am already minimizing - and it’s the start of a journey. 

When author Fumio Sasaki shared his 55 tips to help you say goodbye to your things, a couple hit me between the eyes. First was to get rid of duplicates. I realized I didn't need 20 different pens (my first purge half a year ago got me from more than 100 to 20 or so). I'm down to 5 now - with different types my excuse. The same with the extension cords sitting in the box just waiting for being needed. From 8 to 1.

What makes Goodbye, Things so powerful is it's so much more than a list of tips or suggestions (though those 55 tips are at its heart). It's a series of stories. And those stories are about how Sasaki got rid of his possessions and how each of the actions impacted his life.

Spoiler alert. It was liberating. An alternate subtitle could be Hello, Freedom. Just the one thing you won't want to get rid of is this book. It's worth an extra read or two.