If you are mulling over minimalism while surveying your possessions in the new year, fear not. Here’s a list of my new acquisitions at the end of the first week of 2021:

1. One new yoga mat
2. One kitchen appliance — an Instant Pot
3. Books!!

I attribute some of these impulse buys to the pandemic, fully aware that if I add more stuff to my home, I must also remove some items. Not surprisingly, I received helpful reminders from minimalism advocates.

There is happy medium between mindless hoarding and intentional acquisition.

My mother’s three-question decluttering method (that predated Marie Kondo by decades) taught me how to figure out what stays and what goes.

A new year is a good time to relearn her lessons for life, not just for tidying up.

If my mother met Marie Kondo