Sheila Chandra writes book about de-cluttering! (book and music links)

[Equipoise]

This could be in Cafe Society because it’s partly about a musical artist.
This could be in MPSIMS because it’s partly about Clutter. I think I’ll put it there.
If the mods want to move it to CS, that’s fine.

If you said “who?,” Sheila Chandra is an English pop singer of Indian descent, who has long fused Indian and Western music. She’s also been an actress and now an author.

Banish Clutter Forever: How the Toothbrush Principle Will Change Your Life (that’s the amazon page, here’s the official website)

I’ve been a huge Sheila Chandra fan since the mid-80’s when she performed with Monsoon. I even got to meet and interview her for my radio show when she performed at a WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) festival in Chicago.

Her web site says this about the book:

Sheila Chandra has been a successful singer and songwriter for 28 years with 10 albums to her credit. As someone who has always managed herself, run her own music publishing and production companies and overseen all the various aspects of her career without an assistant, and with heavy workload and a constantly changing schedule, Sheila suffered serious clutter problems firsthand, and she became faced with the challenges of trying to function effectively in a disorganized environment. Because her livelihood depended on it she developed the simplest and quickest system possible for dealing with her own disordered ways. Subsequently she has helped many others by passing on her system. She even has a fool-proof system for dealing with the modern curse of email. She’s set out her secret blueprint for living in a clutter free home and office effortlessly in this book, and believes anyone can use it to live clutter free, no matter how bad their clutter problems are.

Personally, I’m not too interested in the book because my clutter isn’t unmanageable, and most clutter cleanup advice is stuff that I would never do, like the usual “If you haven’t used it for 6 months/1 year, throw it away” crap. I am interested that it’s by Sheila Chandra, and maybe others can get good tips from her. I almost want to buy it just to support her, and out of curiosity regarding what her e-mail solution is, and if it’s any different from “delete it immediately” which I would never do. Spam and marketing e-mails get deleted, but everything else gets kept, forever.

For those who may not be familiar with Sheila’s voice, here are some links:

Various Monsoon songs, from Monsoon’s album Third Eye:

“And I You”

“Eyes”

“Third Eye and Tikka TV”

“Wings Of Dawn (Prem Kavita)”
(here’s the Hindi version)

Various “Ever So Lonely” versions:
LP version (from the Monsoon album Third Eye)
Extended version
Single version
Hindi version
A slow, live version
Instrumental Remix

Probably my favorite Sheila Chandra song, and I can’t really explain why:

“Raqs” (from the album Nada Brahma)
Great covers:
“Tomorrow Never Knows” (from Monsoon’s Third Eye)
“Song To The Siren” (Tim Buckley cover. This Mortal Coil’s version with the Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser is better-known, most recently used in the movie The Lovely Bones)

Eye-popping examples of Speaking In Tongues:
“II”
“III”
“IV”

Fusions of Irish and Indian music:
“Lament of McCrimmon/Song of the Banshee”
“My Lagan Love/Nada Brahma”

“Breath of Life” (Sheila’s song from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

“Strange Minaret (Ximerre version”, weirdness, just because)

“Lament” (from The Struggle, backbeat is too heavy for me, but the vocals are great)

[Sunspace]

Ah, Sheila Chandra. One of my unrequited music loves. sigh. I saw her live at the Power Plant in Toronto: a serene and luminously-beautiful concert.

[Equipoise]

I’ve only seen her once, at the WOMAD, and it was a shortened show. I’d love to see a regular show. I’m envious.

Btw, several of the videos I linked to were set to Private. They’re now Public.

Should I ask that this thread be moved to Cafe Society?

[Colophon]

I read about her book. The “toothbrush principle” in the title is meant to be that nobody, even the most disorganised, ever loses their toothbrush, because it always lives in one place and gets put back there after use. You’re meant to do the same with your other stuff.

Well is it just me or is that just stupid? You only ever use your toothbrush in one place, standing right by the basin next to the toothbrush holder. Of course you’re not going to lose it! But in the real world, you use stuff in different places. You take it out with you, you walk round the house with it! It’s not quite the same as putting the toothbrush back in the holder when you’ve finished brushing your teeth, rather than, oh I don’t know, carrying it downstairs and putting in the garage with your power tools…

[Ferret_Herder]

@Colophon

Well is it just me or is that just stupid? You only ever use your toothbrush in one place, standing right by the basin next to the toothbrush holder. Of course you’re not going to lose it! But in the real world, you use stuff in different places. You take it out with you, you walk round the house with it! It’s not quite the same as putting the toothbrush back in the holder when you’ve finished brushing your teeth, rather than, oh I don’t know, carrying it downstairs and putting in the garage with your power tools…

Plus a toothbrush holder is a really obvious item. It’s not used for anything else, and you automatically know what its job is when you look at it. I can buy organization items for other objects but it’d take quite a long time before I automatically thought, “That’s supposed to be holding my scissors/bills/keys/etc, but they’re not there - I need to find them and replace them.”

Not to mention that my husband and I both have different ideas about what each item’s “natural” place is - even years after marrying we put pots and other kitchen items in somewhat different spots.