Hideko Yamashita, a popular writer and speaker on danshari argues that human beings always move in a circle of obtaining and giving up, forming aprogressive spiral pattern. Danshari, a practice beginning with disposing things, makes you realize whether your desire is overarching.
Ms Hideko claims that she is a consultant of sundries management and she is the only one who takes the job. To promote a philosophy called Danshari, she invented this job. To be more specific, her job is to advise and help clients to dispose belongings that are not necessary, suitable or felt comfortable with. Clients would be able to farewell the psychological junk by reviewing the relationship between their belongings and themselves.
Ms Hideko has been practicing Yoga for years and invented a newbehavioral practice from the ‘refusal, disposal and separation’ principles of yoga, which can be explained in this way: refusal means refusing to buy, toreceive or to obtain unnecessary things; disposal means disposing useless things packed in your houses; separation means separating from theobsession with things and getting to understand what you really need, thus creating a room with comfort.
The most direct persuasion of Danshari is the contrast of before & after pictures. In one picture, there is a house cluttered up with clothes and sundries, whereas after Danshari, there is a tidy and clean house where all spaces including wardrobes, living room, kitchen, cupboard and desks are occupied 50% to 70% full. Furthermore, all belongings are carefully selected and regularly used by the host. After seeing the change, many people are likely to believe: “It seems that I do not need so many things either” and then start a wonderful tidy-up campaign.
One important principle of Danshari is making the room 70% occupied at most. (Pictures/ MUJI).
Now, do I need this?
An old shirt from ex, free chopsticks from CVs, electrical devices of no longer use with various data line, take-out menu on door handle, little cheap gifts that have never been used but kept for a birthday memory, an unfit jacket won from payment competition on the former shopping festival, frozen food left in fridge for more than 6 months as well as women’s ever expanding wardrobe, all of these can be Dansharied.
On the Laba Rice Porridge Festival in 2014, Evernote, a clouding notebook company, held a tiny sharing session. Ms Fond, manager of Brand Communications of a well-known company, showed the whole process of her Danshari with clothes. Fond is a so-called tidy-up holic. As long as she finds something that has not been used for a long time or she no longer likes it, she will dispose it or donate it without hesitation. She found this CoP was systematically proved when she knew Danshari: cleaning up your psychological junks by disposing the junks in your house.
Ms Fond had some confusion with clothes: she could not find a certain one when she tried to but when she bought some clothes home, it turned out that there are already 3 pieces of similar style in her wardrobe, etc. During the New Year ’s Day, she decided to clean up her nearly-exploded wardrobe without no spared effort.
First of all, she divided her clothes into 9 main categories: bag, shoes, coats, tops, trousers, dresses, sport suits, pajamas and accessories. Then, she set up sub-categories on her Evernote, took photos of all clothes and put these photos into each category. Once completed, Ms Fond knew about her wardrobe clearly: 27 coats, 37 tops, 14 trousers, 15 dresses, 6 hats, 10 scarfs, 5 belts, 6 pajamas, 20 pairs of shoes and 9 bags. She realized that she did not have to buy any more this winter. As for the deposal part, she packed them all, donated some and dumped the remaining into garbage bins. Ms Fond felt refreshing after all this. “The best relationship between you and your belongings is to have cautious selection, careful employment and clear-cut disposal.” said Ms fond at the end of her sharing.
Compared with the trendy storage technique, Danshari is a practice thatchallenges our values. Storage Techniques of Your Life points out that the better a person good at storing, the more easily one’s belongings get piled up. As she/he is able to store and organize, she/he will continue to buy, to store and to organize. Gradually, being economical means being greedy about space. Danshari creates a detailed system about practice of disposing your things. The biggest difference between Danshari and tidying-up is that Danshari focuses on the person and the current moment. Concerning whether dispose something, the subject is always the person instead of something. The tense is always the present rather than the future, which means it totally depends on whether a person needs it now instead of will need it in the future.
Ms Hideko once said: “If you cannot remember something, you can never cherish it.”
To give up some relationship or certain situation.
Not only can you dispose a certain thing, but also a very person, a certain relationship as well as a situation you have been stuck in for long enough.
When Jiang Shu read Danshari in 2003, she started to clean up her house. At the same time, she found that her resignation was consistent with the core philosophy of this book.
Jiang, born in 1978, did part-time job in a US company when she started her college life. Among 200 part-time employees, the boss selected 5 to be interns and announced that one of the five would become a full-time staff. Jiang was the one.
She used to devote great efforts into the job and felt proud of it. She stayed in this company for 13 years after graduation. Her passion for the job was decreasing, but she could not decide to quit. “I could not resign because I was so afraid. Every morning, I drove to the company, bought coffee down the office building with a sandwich, and then sat in the office. A new day of work began. Everything was so familiar and comfortable. If I jumpe out of the environment, what can I do? Who am I without the job?”
Jiang took some time to observe her fear. Why am I afraid of telling myfamily about resignation? Why do I think I should be one in that certain situation? Suddenly, it came to her that when she is able to define myself beyond the certain building, the little office, the advanced computers, the telephone system, video session and communication with foreigners, when she realizes who she really is, she can leave without any difficulty.
Jiang said disposal meant disposing the sense of security depending on the exterior environment.
Sai ya and Zhang bin, living in the southern Third Ring Road in Beijing, often hold Yoga practices and psychology support Salon at home. Their living room which also plays the role of classroom, is quite clean There are no other objects but a baldachine, a bookshelf and desk on their floor. Only 30% of the room is taken.
Zhang bin extended his understanding of Danshari into human being, he said: “I will decide whether a thing is needed, and the same is true to people.Some people are trying to get into your life but you can clearly feel that he comes for taking advantage of your energy instead of solving his real problem in life. I will ask such kind of people to get out of here.”
Saya, a psychological counselor, said: “Everything we own must be consistent with our certain need. Your desire for something underlines apsychological need. One’s belongings speak for one’s psychological status.”
Ms Hideko reminded her readers that things could reflect your real thoughts during cleaning and tidying. For instance, if a friend gave you a set of luxury cups and you always kept them in the deepest wardrobe, untouched. You might think you are not willing to use such expensive cups. However, in other words, it means, subconsciously, you believe you do not deserve to use these cups or the cups are out of reach for your current level. It’s like ears for musicians, bodies for dancers or tongues for sommeliers, you should develop your sense consciously.
What is it you seemingly cherish but seldom use? What is it you store repeatedly? What is it you hate to dispose? They all share a common secret.
To practice Danshari does not mean clean up all the room at one time. Ms Hideko suggests starting with the smallest room, such as a drawer, a fridge even a wallet full of receipts.
Chinese Style make-use-of-everything
In 2005, an artist Song Dong held an exhibit called “Make-use-of-everything”. On the floor, all things kept by his mother over the past 50 years, such as washbasin, spoon, chair, shoes, clothes, were laid out on the floor, amounting to more than 10000 pieces. Song Dong said there were no souvenir metals or stamps but essentials, in other words, waste materials.
The show rose from the pass away of Song Dong’s father. He was suddenly gone, which put the whole family into extreme misery. His mother used to be very optimistic, talkative and have many friends, but she suddenly became silent after that. She never watched TV, never read or talked to others, crying all day. At the same time, she pulled the sundries out and spread them on the table and on the floor. “Everything is everywhere.”
Song Dong and his sister sent their mother to southern part of China, to keep her away for a while. Then they threw away many things and cleaned the house up. When their mother came back home, she was furious and got mad at them. “I could not fall into sleep all night, thinking about what is filial duty. And I realize respect must come first. Why do I have to make the senior members of my family live in a way consistent with my lifestyle? So I asked my mum why she kept all those things. She said since my dad had gone, she needed all those to fulfill the house with some vitality. It was poignant of her to say that everything bore someone’s memory. “
Song made up his mind that he would never dispose anything. He invited his mother to hold the public exhibition of “Make Use of Everything”, and collected the old stuff and their memories together. Furthermore, he wish to liberate his mother from sorrow and bitterness.
It took them 1 month to spread all the stuff and another 3 years to have them organized. He employed a 300-square-meter room in Beijing 798 Art District to hold the show. There is a box of soap among the old stuff, which was given by Song’s mother as a wedding gift to him in 1992. Now, the soap is as tough as stones. Some of the soap are already black, covered with dust and look filthy. Song said it got useless because of the popularity of washing machine. His mother felt dejected upon hearing that and replied: “Well, I would keep it for you.” Song did not know the story behind the soap until he packed it with his mother. His mother did not know whether she would have a son or daughter when she was pregnant. If it was a son, there would be a big family which should use more one piece of soap. Therefore, a mother ought to reserve as much soap as she can for her children.
The journalist from People magazine asked whether it sourced from a sense of insecurity. Song answered: “Of course. There was no possibility in one’s life back then as it was not a more-pay-for-more-work age. People of that generation followed a philosophy called ‘make-use-of-everything’. We should respect that. The world is sort of materialism today because it promotes consumption for development. Danshariers should think about making use of everything from a basic perspective, which means we should decide how many things we need and then start obtaining correspondingly.”
Song’s studio, doubled as living room, looks quite refreshing. Their sofa is made manually by his artist wife. It is unique across the world, not only a essentials but also a beloved object. TV, a bookshelf, a desk, some chairs. That’s all.
As we have talked about the Danshari lifestyle, let’s try Danshari in real life and make an efficient, simple but styled mini wardrobe.
Step 1
Clean the wardrobe in batches of clothes and evaluate each one of them.
Clean the wardrobe in batches of clothes and evaluate each one of them.
Question 1: Do I still like it?
Question 2: How long is it since I last wore it?
Question 3: Is it still fit me or a flattering shape for my body?
Question 4: Does it still match my style?
Step 2
Divide the clothes into dispose group, donate group, hesitate group, store group (unseasonable) and keep group.
Q: What clothes should a mini wardrobe contain?
Your mini wardrobe should have 10 core pieces of good quality and they can match each other. Most significantly, they should be closely linked to your lifestyle and personal style. Core pieces exclude coat, suits, accessories, shoes or base shirts ( It’s important to have many base shirts so that you do not have to wash them every day, which makes the clothes more durable).
Step 3
Re-organize the mini wardrobe every season to change the clothes according to different seasons.
Explore Jennifer’s mini wardrobe
10 pieces for Autumn and Winter
3 pieces of cashmere sweater(cream, white and black)
3 pieces of silk blouses
1 piece of buttoned shirt
1 piece of buttoned shirt
Well-cut black woolen pants
Black woolen skirt
Black skinny jeans or boot cut
99% unknown best-before dates of groceries. Most people are shocked!
Essentials such as towels, toothbrushes, bath balls, rags and tableware might do harm to your health. They touch your skin, mouth and body directly, therefore bacteria can potentially intrude your body leading to illness if you do not sterilize or replace them regularly.
1.Rags: 2 weeks
There are millions of bacteria in rags, which should be replaced every 1 or 2 weeks. They should be washed thoroughly in hot water and exposed in sunshine after use. Also, you ought to put them into microwave to get sterilized.
2.Filtering Water Dispenser: 6 Years
Many water dispensers employed in our households are based on filtering. They can help to remove the microorganism in tap water, but the efficiency of their filtering function decreases after long-time usage, thus cannot clean the water as expected.
3.Bath Balls: 3 months.
Bath balls can be stained with dead skin with our use, culturing bacteria. It is suggested that bath balls should be cleaned thoroughly every 1 or 2 weeks and replaced every season.
4.Towels: 2 to 4 months
Towels are made of fabrics, so bacteria can get deep into the fiber if used long enough. Washing, drying in the sun or boiling in hot water can control the number of germs temporarily instead of sterilizing for good. Towels can get hard and dirty, becoming new source of bacteria. In order to avoid hurting skin and keep them comfortable to use, towels should be replace every 3 months rather than wait and have them dirty and ragged.
5.Toothbrush: 3 months
Every toothbrush should not work beyond 6 hours. If you brush your teeth twice a day and 2 minutes once, a toothbrush can be employed for about 3 months, which means you’d better replace them within 3 month before they get too dirty.
6.Shopping bag: wash instantly after use
Shopping bags can be easily stained with faeces and germs from meat or vegetables. Instant cleaning can get rid of more than 99.9% of the germs.
7. Sneakers: 8 to 12 months
According to the average amount of exercise of common people, a pair of sneakers should be used for 8 to 12 months. When beyond the period, their function of protecting your feet or body can be decreased dramatically.
8.Earphones: weekly clean
You should use ethyl alcohol to sterilize dirty earphones and keep them away from dust.
9. Cleanout fluid of contact lenses: 3 months
Once the box of cleanout fluid is open, it can be easily polluted, which can lead potential harm to your eyes. Also, the box that keep contact lenses should be replaced every 3 months.
10. Vitamins: 2 years
To be effective, Vitamins should be stored in dry and cool area for 2 years. Therefore, if there are vitamins kept for more than 2 years in your house, you’d better not take those even if the best-before date has not arrived yet.
11. Bras: 6 months
If a bra is worn 2 to 3 days a week, they can be usually used for 3 to 6 months. Otherwise, they would become inelastic and unable to support or protect women’s breast. As soon as they get out of shape or slack, they should be replaced.
12. Razor Blade: 4 to 6 weeks
You should get the blade out of shaver when finish using it, and brush off theremaining. Put the blade into ethyl alcohol after using 2-3 times and then dry it with cotton for future use.
13. Pillowcase: Launder Weekly
Pillowcase can easily get stained with sweat, saliva, danfruff and dust mite, which should be laundered every week. However, long period of use make it harder to clean and get rid of various bacteria. Gradually, the accumulating bacteria and mites should be harmful to your health and beauty since your brain and skin are exposed to them directly day and night. Therefore, you need to replace them regularly. It is advised that pillowcases should be replaced every 6 months and at most 1 year.
14. Pillow Inner: 1 to 2 years
Once a pillow inner is used long enough, its support to head and neck should be compromised. Meanwhile, grease on your head or hair will penetrate into the pillow, making it vulnerable to bacteria or even lead to allergy orrespiratory diseases.
15. Quilt Inner: 1 to 2 years
We do not often wash quilt inner, which explains why it has large amount ofstaphylococcus albus, Escherichia coli and other bacteria after long-time usage. Also, its humidity and temperature are suitable for mites and theirreproduction. Researchers prove that there are more than 2 million mites in one quilt, which make some people not sleep well. Exposing to sunshine can make humid quilt fluffy again but it cannot sterilize or kill mites. Professional anti-bacteria devices are thus necessary, such as an ultraviolet radiator. Also, you can replace it every 1 to 2 years. Safety and health come to first if you use something so often and so closely.
16. Beddings: 2 to 3 years
Beddings refer to quilt cover and bed sheet, which should be cleaned weekly. Even so, there will still be innumerous bacteria. Experts say 6 million mites can stay on the bed with you if you do not air the quilt for 3 months. A professional ultraviolet radiator can be employed for sterilizing or you can replace the beddings every 2 to 3 years. The replaced beddings should not be made into rags because it may cause further pollution.
17. Plastic lunch box：Dispose upon damaging
Bacteria can easily get stuck in scratches on plastics, while hand washesdecreases the possibility of damaging plastic lunch boxes. Once your lunch box is found damaged, fade or brittle, you should dispose it instantly or use a glass one.
18. Mascara: 3 months
Most germs in your cosmetic bag source from the mascara. If it is used for long enough, the bacteria on the mascara brush might irritate your eyes.
19. Bamboo (Wooden) tableware: 6 months
Usually, tableware made of bamboo or wood should be used for less than 6 months, and chopsticks should be sterilized once a week in a family. You can boil them in hot water for 30 minutes or put them in microwave oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Some painted chopsticks contain lead or chromium and other heavy metal, which can potentially lead to heavy metal poisoning or cancer when fried. Therefore, chopsticks should be disposed when they get damaged, out of shape or discolored.
20. Metal table wares: to be replaced when their coat is damaged
Stainless steel is made of ferrochrome with nickel, molybdenum and other metal. Some of them are harmful to human beings, so metal table wares should be disposed if they are damaged, scratched, or even show coating shedding,
21. Ceramics: Replace upon cracking
The beautiful ceramic glaze contains lead, which might get leaked when it cracks. Food stained with lead is quite harmful, so we’d better not continue to use the ceramic table wares if they are cracked.
22. Curtains: To be cleaned every 1 to 2 months ; to be replaced every 2 years
Curtains are exposed to the dust in air every day with large area, so they can accumulate a lot of germs on their surface. With wind blowing, the dust and germs would spread and pollute the air. It is suggested that curtains should be cleaned every 1 to 2 months and replaced every 2 years as some germs cannot be sterilized with long period use.
BYLUNTA @ amazon.com
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