The Potently Imperative Power of Purging

“To put your things in order means to put your past in order, too. It’s like resetting your life and settling your accounts so that you can take the next step forward.”

– Marie Kondo, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”

Why is we tend to adamantly resist the very thing that can help us the most?

Such was the case with Marie Kondo’s book, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”

I can’t tell you the number of times I picked up the book over the past few years (whenever I saw it on my friend’s bookshelf), read a few paragraphs, rolled my eyes, then put it back on the shelf.

But on my last visit to my friend’s place (in early November, right before the second wave of the pandemic hit), I read more than a few paragraphs. I read the whole damn thing. Then I went home and got to work (on weekends and over the holidays), sorting through the remaining boxes in my garage.

Why?

“By handling each sentimental item and deciding what to discard, you process your past. If you just stow these things away in a…