What’s a book that’s left an imprint in your heart? For me, I read Marie Kondo’s books a year ago, but the lessons remain with me.

Her lessons interrupt this mindset of buying for happiness. When an item loses meaning, we buy more, surrounding ourselves with things that do not bring us comfort. She also doesn’t take the opposite route of going completely minimalist, as some people mistake her for, focussing solely on experiences (which themselves have become commercialized, e.g., Coachella).

Instead, her core principle of keeping only the things that bring you joy is so simple but finally helps us connect to our surroundings. There is no shame in loving “stuff” because some stuff holds genuine meaning to us sometimes. There is also no shame in letting go of “stuff” when it’s time for that object to move on to a different life.