Decluttering for the soul
By : Donna Wong
In Hong Kong, we often live in cluttered flats and work in cluttered offices. With space a precious commodity in this city, we tend to use up every inch.
But according to Ms Sharon Lam, a graduate from CityU’s Department of Information Systems, decluttering is an emerging industry because by tidying up the spaces around us, we are refreshing the soul.
“Tidying up and decluttering embodies a deeper meaning. By tidying up the external environment, we free our mind from annoyances. Tidying up can restore a peaceful mind and lets us think more clearly,” she says.
Art of decluttering
Graduating from CityU in 2015, Sharon first learned about the concept of decluttering and organising during a business trip to Japan when she was working as a data analyst.
In Japan, danshari means ditching materialism and remaining clear-minded. The concept of decluttering and organising was popularised by best-selling Japanese author Hideko Yamashita more than ten years ago. After the earthquake in March 2011, Japanese people started to consider home safety more carefully, and this meant decluttering.
The idea spread with the publication of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising by the author Marie Kondo and star of the Netflix TV show Tidying up with Marie Kondo.
“Tidying up can restore a peaceful mind and lets us think more clearly.”Sharon had a hunch that a company offering tidying up services had great potential in Hong Kong. So she took the plunge and quit her job and became a professional organiser. Her company, Home Therapy, which she set up with a friend, provides tidying up and “therapy” services for houses.
During the initial stages of her start-up, Sharon was under great pressure due to family opposition and a limited customer base. However, with great passion, she designed her own logo, set up a website and started blogging. For promotion, she made use of free channels like Facebook and WhatsApp, and eventually she started to attract enquiries from the media and clients.
One of her stand-out clients so far has been a person who wanted to tidy up her home and lead a new life after experiencing major surgery. After more than 50 bags of clutter had been collected from her flat over an eight-day clean-up period, the client reported feeling a lot brighter inside herself, not just in her flat.
Entrepreneurship starts at CityU
She recalls that CityU sowed the seeds for her entrepreneurship when she was still a student. Encouraged by the University, she took part in an exchange programme and visited many leading technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Apple in San Francisco. She was deeply impressed by their entrepreneurship.
She would like to thank Professor Dou Wenyu of the College of Business for offering valuable advice when she tried to start online tutorial services for students in and outside mainland China. She was also greatly inspired by professionals from industry whom CityU invited to campus to offer advice on starting a business and sharing market information.
Sharon reiterates that decluttering and organising is not simply tidying up physical, tangible items. It’s about transforming a person’s attitude towards life.
“Letting go of the past is a scholarly study of life. As we cannot change the past, we shall start afresh now so we can enjoy a fulfilling life,” she says.