Be selective when choosing what treasured memories to hold on to. Iakov Filimonov / Alamy Stock Photo
Be selective when choosing what treasured memories to hold on to. Iakov Filimonov / Alamy Stock Photo

De-cluttering is essential, but then so is nostalgia



I'm sure you've heard of The Magic Art of Tidying Up, Mari Kondo's best-selling book about how to de-clutter our living spaces so that they bring us joy. First published in 2011, this book got millions of people following her advice, down to even the most wacky suggestions, like thanking your t-shirts for their service before putting them away in the "KonMari"-approved fashion.

I read this book when it first came out and I wanted to be a believer. I whispered “thank you” to my t-shirts, sorted through the snowdrifts of paper piled on my desk, and tried to be heartless about mementos and trinkets so that I only kept the truly meaningful objects.

Full disclosure? I failed. I’m a de-cluttering dropout.

Or at least, I was. But this summer in New York, I saw Kondo’s book and as I flipped through it, I vowed again to try and seek joy in her "tidying up" magic.

My husband and I had already promised our two sons that when we got back to Abu Dhabi at the end of the summer, we could update their bedrooms to make them more age-appropriate, and so in addition to bringing me a clean desk and a joyful closet, I thought that maybe Kondo’s strategies could help streamline the re-do process.

You might think it odd to embark on a massive household overhaul immediately after a summer away, but because jet-lag always induces in me a kind of existential despair, in which I am sure that my life is a disaster and always will be, there was something vaguely satisfying in matching my inner disarray with an external mess. The first step in the KonMari process is to dump out the contents of the closet in order to weed out the joyful items and discard the rest. Initially, it was easy: into the discard bin went skirts with waistbands that were once aspirational but are now impossible, shoes that had been in a storage bin under the bed for at least two years, yoga pants that had seen one too many down-dog poses. It got harder – and my definition of “joy” got looser – as I got tired (and bored), but at least I returned far fewer items to the closet than I had started with.

My Kondo resolve wobbled, however, when it came time for the promised “re-do” of the boys’ bedrooms. I’ve found things that the boys didn't want but I couldn't bring myself to toss. How could I throw away the white t-shirt (now far too small for either child) that one of them customized for our first National Day with a hand-drawn UAE flag and childish lettering that spelled out UAE Forty? Should I really give away the little stuffed bear that the younger boy treasured for years as a faithful friend and bedtime companion?

Don’t tell Mari, but I put those things (and more) into a big box labeled “nostalgia” and then I stashed the box in my (less crowded) closet. My kids are growing up, and while that’s a wonderful thing in many ways, it’s hard for me to say farewell to those little-boy years. Any of you who have ever stepped barefoot on a Lego piece will understand the measure of my difficulty when I say that I’ve even felt wistful about getting rid of the Lego sets.

We’re about three days into the bedroom re-do and the Kondo-ization of my personal space. The jet lag is lifting, and so my life seems like less of a disaster, although perhaps that’s due to my t-shirts being happier in my closet than they used to be.

I’m not sure I can carry through with a full Kondo, however. She’d say it’s because I’m too attached to “stuff” and maybe that’s true. On the other hand, when she wrote that book, Kondo didn’t have any children. Now she has a baby, born last year, so perhaps we can expect a book from her in about 13 years – not about the magical art of tidying up and letting go, but the magical art of putting-away-for-the-grandchildren-just-in-case.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

Results

4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Emblem Storm, Oisin Murphy (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).

4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.

5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Wildman Jack, Fernando Jara, Doug O’Neill.

5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.

6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Barney Roy, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Matterhorn, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.

7.30pm: Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Loxley, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.

MATCH DETAILS

Chelsea 4 

Jorginho (4 pen, 71 pen), Azpilicueta (63), James (74)

Ajax 4

Abraham (2 og), Promes (20). Kepa (35 og), van de Beek (55) 

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ovasave%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Majd%20Abu%20Zant%20and%20Torkia%20Mahloul%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Healthtech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Three%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24400%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Five%20calorie-packed%20Ramadan%20drinks
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERooh%20Afza%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20contains%20414%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETang%20orange%20drink%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%20300%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECarob%20beverage%20mix%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%20about%20300%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQamar%20Al%20Din%20apricot%20drink%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20saving%20contains%2061%20calories%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EVimto%20fruit%20squash%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E100ml%20serving%20contains%2030%20calories%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Cofe

Year started: 2018

Based: UAE

Employees: 80-100

Amount raised: $13m

Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group 

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G