Changemaker Interview with Founder of Yi Organizer, Shirley Zhou

Shirley Zhou is a media entrepreneur. She started the WeChat official account ¨Yi Organizer¨ in 2015 and since then, she has “accidentally” embarked on the road to being a behind-the-scenes promoter of minimalism inChina.

Prior to this, Shirley was a journalist for the Bund magazine, covering architecture, sustainability and education. Today, she devotes herself to communicating the philosophy of “Simple living. High thinking” in order to create a better life and planet.

Shirley invited me to her home to conduct the interview. Her apartment mirrors her personality – simple and elegant. It has a low-profile to it, but at the same time, it is also bright and vibrant.

Seeds of Change volunteer writer, Kawa Shi, had a heart-warming conversation with Shirley this freezing winter afternoon.

---

01 HOME DECLUTTERING & ORGANIZING

How did you start “organizing things”？

Shirley: Actually I´m naturally casual and relaxed, so I did not bother about small details when I was younger. However, I did an exchange program in University of Hamburg as a Chinese Ambassador for Media in Germany back in 2012 and I was staying at the home of an elderly couple at the time. They had plenty of things at their place, but all neatly ordered with flowers, plants and interesting decorations. I felt that the home had a special energy to it. Upon my return to China, I read The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and realized that organization and decluttering is actually not that troublesome. On the contrary, you´ll feel a sense of freedom and liberation after decluttering. And there began my journey.

But thereon, you did not simply maintain your passion as a hobby. What exactly got you to turn it into a career?

Shirley: I did some sharing on Danshari (断舍离) and started to gain some traction on social media. I knew it was my time to have a career, not a job. I visited Noriko Kondo in Japan and she invited me to design model rooms. I made up my mind to bring this culture of Japanese “organization” to China and develop a method that can be applied to Chinese homes and lifestyle at the same time. After all, we Chinese can accept bolder colors and be more supportive of individual expression when compared to the Japanese. I hoped to be able to help people create a home that can breathe.

Have your lifestyle and your values changed since you changed living space?

Shirley: Absolutely. I found my true aesthetics and understood myself on a deeper level. I learnt to create an inspiration board for my ideal living room one time by collecting all the items I liked. What was amazing for me was that it was more than just a pretty collection of photographs. I could actually find out what kind of style I liked. Take another example: Arrangingmy books. I organized my books by genre or subject. My favorite books were displayed in the front and center. Then I observed that most of the books that I did not consciously put on the outside were about thought provoking topics and girl power.

Finding out what you really care about, through organizing and decluttering, seems extremely interesting. Do you think that only people with OCD or perfectionists are more likely to become minimalists who love to tidy up?

Shirley: What actually matters is self-care. When you learn to love yourself, you´re able to heal yourself in every aspect: your living space, your body, your spirit and your mind. Decluttering is an act of self-love and everyone can do that. It is not necessarily limited to those with OCD.

Some people are concerned that tidying up hampers creativity in some way. What is your take on that?

Shirley: Yes, it definitely will. This is particularly true at work. For designers especially, a freer environment can be conducive to creativity. Of course, there´s a difference between the work environment and private environment. Try to keep your living space neat if you can. What is worth mentioning is that when it comes to kids’ education, there is no need to keep everything organized, a mess may actually help kids to generate ideas in what is termed “Creative Chaos.” Make sense in some way, right?

02 DECLUTTERING & ORGANIZING OUR MIND

How did you manage to combine organizing with psychology?

Shirley: I created a video account with a psychologist, called ¨Zhou Yiyan¨ (周一妍). We have covered interesting topics like consumer culture, body anxiety, family of origin, etc. This is a place to share my bewilderment, my thinking and mystory, to have a deeper conversation beyond organizing and decluttering. Psychology, in some sense, is also about how to organize one's inner world.

What is your recommended way to organize our mind and keep it at peace in this modern, urban life where anxiety is on the rise?

Shirley: Reading and Communicating with friends. I can be also anxious and worried about what if nobody likes me, what if I get no more new fans. On one occasion when I went to a reading club, I found a book called The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga. With that I began to understand that I do not need to please everyone.

My current goal is simply to keep growing every year. To keep writing and to be in a state that I like and am able to feed myself, that´s all.

Nowadays many people feel that their mind is too messy, and that is partly because they fail to let their mind express itself through words. As an ex-journalist, what’s your advice on better translating your thoughts into words?

Shirley: I recommend reading the autobiographies of architects. Designers are under a lot of competitive pressure and they must be able to express themselves to be understood by others. For example, Toyo Ito's interpretation of his architectural work in his autobiography gives me an insight into how he thinks about architecture and for what purpose he designs.

Yet it is not necessary to always express yourself through words. Painting, acting, dancing, can all be means to express yourself.

Brands are using every possible way to sell their products as if our problems can be solved simply by buying things. At the consumer level, how do you gain the clarity in your mind to find out what you really want so that you can avoid falling for such marketing tactics?

Shirley: Keep this in your mind: you do not need to own everything you want. Things you like are not necessarily suitable for you. Understanding this is always more important than the possession of a thing.

03 KNOWING SHIRLEY BETTER

What is the most satisfying thing you have bought recently?

Shirley: Plants, especially the horsetail in my living room. We are all too obsessed with online shopping and even choose our plants by looking at photos on Taobao. I went to the flower and bird market earlier, and this was the first time I’ve seen so many plants. Finally, I picked the one I liked and the whole experience made me quite happy.

If you could do one thing to change society in terms of raising awareness and opening peoples’ minds, what would it be?

Shirley: I would like to create a community where women can express themselves freely and facilitate wellbeing between themselves. Maybe starting from sharing decluttering methods and then having some heart to heart conversations.

That sounds great, I’m already looking forward to it! So, you know that life is always about finding a balance between chaos and order. I'm sure that even people as well-organized as you will still experience moments of chaos. When was the last time you had such a moment?

Shirley: Organizing my photos. I do that once a year and every year at this time I have a breakdown. I should add this into my goal list next year: to find a more effective way to organize my photos.

One last classic question: if your house was on fire and all of your belongings were inside the house. After rescuing your loved ones and pets, you could only grab one last thing. What would it be?

Shirley: (Hesitates) Probably my cell phone. It means more than an object for me, it has memory and is a tool to connect to the world. Now we even have E-wallet on the phone which can provide us a guarantee after the accident. Well, I guess modern life makes people tacky.

---

CLOSING NOTE

True organization must begin and end in one place: Your mind. 

I got deeply inspired by Shirley’s idea of going through your belongings to better understand what really matters to you.

As the end of the lunar year approaches, why not focus on a specific area and aim to declutter? It can be your wardrobe, bookshelf, or even your fridge. Take the time to think through how you use your space, try something new, have a refreshing start.

And here’s some good news!

Shirley´s new book ¨Daily Nourishment: A 365-day recipe for self-love¨ was published at the end of December. In her words, this can be a guide for all women to have a better life. 

If you´re interested, feel free to reply keyword "Shirley" on our WeChat platform for details.

Other Recommended Articles