Wherein Sarah Knight Teaches Me How to Not Give a F*ck

Wherein Sarah Knight teaches me how to not give a f*ck

Book Cover Image: The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight

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Genre: Parody; Humor; Self Help
Publication Date: 29 December 2015
Source: Mine. All mine.

Synopsis from the Publisher:

“Are you stressed out, overbooked, and underwhelmed by life? Fed up with pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? It’s time to stop giving a f*ck.

This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo’s bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt–and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy.

The easy-to-use, two-step NotSorry Method for mental decluttering will help you unleash the power of not giving a f*ck about:

Family drama

Having a ‘bikini body’

Iceland

Co-workers’ opinions, pets, and children

And other bullsh*t!

And it will free you to spend your time, energy, and money on the things that really matter. So what are you waiting for? Stop giving a f*ck and start living your best life today!”

My Thoughts: I am sure most people who decide to read Sarah Knight’s parody of Marie Kondo’s über-popular minimalist self-help novel are doing so to get a few laughs out of the cuss-filled parody. After all, even the publisher lists The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck among its humor offerings. However, when you set aside the humor and the language and pays attention to Ms. Knight’s message, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much you actually learn about not worrying about those things that are not worth your time, energy, or money about which to spend worrying.

I went into this short bundle of laughs wondering what about its continued popularity and hoping that Ms. Knight might indeed teach me a few things. The book’s structure lends itself easily to reading in one sitting, but I wanted to stop stressing about ALL THE THINGS/PEOPLE/EVENTS so I took my time, stopping after each section to let its message sink into my brain. I worked through all her suggested exercises and probably gave each idea of hers more thought than is necessary. What I found, though, as I worked through the exercises is that for all her bluntness, Ms. Knight is definitely on to something.

Even if you are not in need of reducing your stress over things/people/events you may or may not be able to control, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck is a speedy and fun read that not just pokes fun at Ms. Kondo’s method but also provides a rational look at stress and how to minimalize it. Ms. Knight’s breezy narrative style makes it an easy read, and her SorryNotSorry method gives you the freedom to take what you want from her advice and stuff the rest without worry. I am proud of the lists I made working through her exercises, and I do look at them at least once a week to remind myself what of what is truly important to me. When I can barely read headlines without feeling the acid in my stomach start to churn, taking back control by not giving a f*ck is a welcome change to 2018.