The End of Book Club is the Start of Something Big
Guys, you did it! You crushed the first-ever Life in Jeneral Book Club. And however you engaged with it—whether you worked through every chapter or just popped in for the topics you needed most—it gave me so much life to see your responses and hear what was resonating with so many of you throughout the book.
Surprise: This is soul work!
The piece of feedback I’ve heard most, by far, from readers is how Life in Jeneral hit on a deeper emotional level than they expected: “This was about so much more than organizing.” “I had no idea this book would hit me on a heart level.” “I cried—was not expecting that.” “I think this book might change my life.” Every response that came in like this had me going YES.
When it comes to organizing books, of course we expect hands-on tips, tricks, and how-tos for our spaces. And I will always offer that practical instruction (see Part Two of the book!).
But what I believe—and continue to hear from you guys—is that the following two factors are really the game changers behind the physical work:
Setting your intention for your home (answering the big-picture questions of what you really want for your daily life and family) and organizing with that vision in mind
Committing to the mental and emotional work of decluttering your life, so everything that surrounds you is life-giving, useful, brings you joy, and serves your home in this season
Why? Because without engaging our hearts in the process, we are simply going through the motions, ticking through organizational checklists that will need to be repeated. Lasting change requires engagement from the inside-out.
But still, why did I dedicate HALF the book to the soul work of organizing?
There is really only one reason I am in the business of helping people sustainably organize their homes: We’ve each been given only one precious life, and I want to help people love and savor theirs as much as humanly possible.
Social media is tricky in that it can skew our idea of the life of our dreams. We tend to see lots of the big moments—traveling to exotic destinations, throwing or attending fabulous parties. But the marrow of life is made up of the small, sticky but sacred moments—that quick dinner together on a weeknight, a phone conversation your heart really needed, hearing about your kid’s day on the drive home from school, reading a good book before sleep, Saturday pancakes in pajamas. Moments that are easy to miss in the chaos and added stress of disorganization.
I talk a lot about how organizing is really about creating space in our lives. But space for what? Space for whatever feeds your soul. Soulful space. Your space for building a life that’s meaningful to you. And I want to help you do that.
Let’s keep going deep together.
As we come to the end of this first book study together, I have never felt so energized about what’s ahead at Life in Jeneral. In so many ways, I feel like we’re just getting started. Stay tuned and get ready to go deep as we roll out new tools and platforms to help you trade perfection for progress and collection for connection.
Sending love to you and your home,
Jen