I don’t have much in my dorm room to begin with since the space doesn’t really allow me to, so most of the items contained in my room are “necessary” items such as clothing/ toiletries. When I was looking around my room to choose a certain category of items to use the Konmari method on, I reflected on my bookshelf. I had just recently discarded many unneeded lotions and perfumes before break so it remained only half full of a couple things such as two things of lotion, some facial masks, one bottle of perfume, a bowl, some utensils, and a stack of books. The section on books within the reading had caught my attention and when I saw my own books on my shelf, taking up much more space than the more functional items, I reflected on what she said. I have a pretty large book collection in my room at home and when coming to college I took a few in case I got bored and wished to read them. I only brought about ten with me, but when I grabbed them all off the shelf and onto my desk I realized there was only two books there I had actually completed. I love reading but for some reason it always came with this weird anxiety; I always feel like I missed something, when I didn’t, and i’ll re-read paragraphs over and over. It leads me to consistently only read the first 30 pages of most books I pick up. Most of the books I had are Chuck Palahniuk cause I’ve had a goal to read his entire collection of works. It made me disappointed in myself that I never actually did it, considering I had been collecting his books since I was 14. The two books I had fully read were Survivor and The Bell Jar ( I was probably 50 pages away from finishing SlaughterHouse Five).

My copies of both Survivor and Slaughterhouse five were very beat up, and when I picked them up I actually laughed. I read them the summer going into my sophomore year of high school. I had to go to sailing early so I brought them with me every day and would just sit on the beach, eat, and read.  I was always scared of people looking at me when I was there and I think that the time I took being alone to calm down and read allowed me to be more content with myself. Because of this I put those books in the “joy” pile. The Bell Jar was the third book I put in the joy pile. I don’t remember much, considering I read this book when I was 13, which was 7 years ago now, but there’s something about it. It’s not necessarily joy, more of nostalgia. I was an angsty kid who thought “no one understood me”, so of course I would have gravitated towards this book when I was that age. It really makes me want to re-read it and reflect on it now at the age of 20. The last book I put in the joy pile was The Diary of a Teenage Girl, which was a 19th birthday present from someone who I’ve been friends with since I was 10. It’s a important object for me cause I know a lot of thought was put into it and It was given at a time in my life when I was going through a lot. Its one of those books you can pick up and read parts every now and then, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing with it. All of the other books in my pile are just books I’m sure I would enjoy, but I have no special connection with, at least yet. I put them to the side, but I don’t feel the same way about books from what was stated in Konmari Method. I cannot simply just toss those other books because although it may take me a while to pick them up, I eventually will. I feel there is a time a place where those books will bring importance to my life, and I hope I will be determined enough to actually finish the Chuck Palahniuk collection.