The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Magic Cleaning #1) by. Marie Kondo
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, with detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy”, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). —Ten Speed Press; 2014
Book Review:
I was surprised by Kondo’s candid personal revelations on how being a middle child in her family made it difficult for her to make acquaintances and connect with people. Making her focus her energy on appreciating her belongings and what she surrounded herself with. Spurring her life focused on tidying.
Through much trial and error with popular storage and organization trends, she developed the KonMarie Method of tidying. A systematic breakdown of taking each personal belonging into consideration and keeping only those that “spark joy”, which is a theme that is repeated constantly throughout the manual.
By keeping only the items that “spark joy” and not letting sentiments of the past (Ex: oh but my mom gave this to me) or fear of the future (Ex: what if I do finally lose the weight or get into scuba diving again) make you beholden to them, you are left with only what makes you happy. Creating a space that you love and in many cases a new outlook on life, by bringing what you love into prominence and out of the shadows of clutter.
While Kondo’s approach to showing appreciation to your belongings by speaking to them and thanking them for their service may be a bit over the top for most. I’m sure the notion of taking careful inventory and care of your prized belongings, is a concept everyone can agree on.
The KonMarie Method is not just for packrats and hoarders. Everyone, no matter the state of your home can find value in applying this method to their living space. –Buy it!
Television/Streaming Adaptation:
In 2019 Netflix aired the first season of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, where Kondo and her translator comes into families’ homes and personally helps them through the KonMarie method.
H.A. Worthington & Cat
