Marie Kondo. By now you've heard her name - and if you haven't, may I ask if there is space to share under that rock? I could use a quiet hideout. For now, though, I am rockless, which means Marie Kondo is everywhere I look. I don't mind; she's adorable. Her impeccable dress and sweet demeanor are so darn wholesome and pristine, it makes me feel like a giant unkempt gangly galoof. But I don't even mind that, because Marie Kondo would never make me feel that way herself. She's far too nice.
When her book, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, first hit the shelves, I hit the road. I have very little interest in following trend for the sake of it. Tidying up? Yeah, I do that every grace-filled day. Besides, we've moved so much in the last fifteen years (almost once a year, but who except our Exhaustion is counting!?) that the art of Stuff Purging now comes quite naturally. So, I forgot all about her.
But then, her Netflix special showed up, and she was, once again, everywhere. And this time, I could forgo the time and effort of reading a book I didn't really want to read. I could, instead, sit down with a bowl of popcorn and my skepticism and call myself informed. After a few weeks of resistance, I went for it. Change my life, Marie, I said.
Ironically, I had to approach her method like she does with clutter: find what brings me joy and discard the rest. That said, there was a lot of good to keep.
What I loved about the #konmarie method:
1) Gratitude. It's where she starts, and her entire process depends on it. I am thankful for my home, I am thankful for these items, I am thankful for what they taught me. Keep, toss, donate, or not; it's all done with intention. Without gratitude, her method falls flat. There's something quite beautiful about that.
2) She doesn't do the work for them. I was expecting her to sweep into these homes and do all the organizing for the camera and then leave; because, you know, Reality TV. Not so. She enters the chaos calmly and without judgement (in fact, with excitement!) and encourages change with her method, then, just like that, she leaves. The family is then left to work their way through their stuff, item by item. She comes back when that work is completed. She gives them their next category, and on it goes.
3) The timeline and workload are realistic. Each episode covers a span of approximately one month in real time. There is no quick fix when it comes to setting a house in order. I appreciate that this method doesn't promise a quick fix, but seems to invite a steady pace, and it begins with the acknowledgement that this is going to be a difficult process.
4) To keep what matters. “We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of." - Marie Kondo. Unlike so many other methods of organizing, the #konmarie method asks you to find the important. The motivation as you start is to hunt through the pile for the obvious joy-bringers. This flips on its head the most common approach to clutter: get rid of it! why do you still have that! you have too much stuff! No, Marie Kondo non-judegmentally says to keep what brings you joy. Naturally, as those decisions are made, you will of course remove a lot of items from the home. But she doesn't start there. This is a good thing.
5) "Does this item belong in your life moving forward?" For the nostalgic (*who are you looking at*), the concept of de-cluttering is kind of panic-inducing. I am a nostalgic collector. As much as I let go, I accumulate more. Every item has meaning. Most items spark joy of some kind. I can attach memory and importance to a lot of things. In Episode 7, she poses the question above to her client, and you can see a visible change as he answers the question, "No." There was a lightbulb there, and it clicked on for me too.
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Before the show, I assumed that the many moves and garage sales and donations I've made over the years have made me an expert on getting rid of stuff, and I suppose, that is true. Many of Marie Kondo's practices are things I already do: go through items by category (check), one at a time (check), organize messy drawers and cabinets in boxes (check). But it was the theory behind these practices that was missing for me. Despite my work, I am still overrun with stuff. Clearly, I was due for an organizational tune-up. I am thankful I caved to the trend and tried to learn more about the #konmarie movement. It didn't change my life, but it certainly changed my mind.
Now, onto joy.
