The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Marie Kondō
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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Marie Kondō
Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?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, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.
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I think this book is perfect for the recent college grad who lives in a very small apartment. Aside from the focus on the physical act of tidying and discarding, Kondo does a really nice job of motivating readers to look at their lives and think about what really triggers joy. Most of those things aren't material items that need to be tidied at all, and therefore we really don't "need" much to be happy. It did get a little info-mercial esque in a couple parts, but I think that's kind of par for the course with this type of book. Looking forward to starting a clean out tomorrow!
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I already knew the basic premise of this book before reading it - the idea of holding each of your belongings in your hands and deciding whether it sparked joy - so that wasn’t too revolutionary for me. I was surprised, however, at just how spiritual Kondo is! Her writing seems to have elements of magical realism - all her belongings are animate with thoughts, feelings, and preferences.
Initially, I found this to be off-putting and found myself steeling up against what I saw as broad claims with no basis in reality. But as I read more, I became more open and realized it wasn’t really necessary for these claims to be scientifically true to be meaningful. I thought of my closest relationships with stuff - my car, my bike - and noticed I animated them in the same way Kondo did with her other belongings. It’s not that I believe my car actually notices when I tell it “Good job buddy!” after getting us through a sticky situation. But rather, interacting with it in this way makes me feel closer to it and in turn helps me appreciate it more. And I think that’s way Kondo is really getting at!
To me she’s saying, if we treat our belongings with more appreciation and respect, they’ll last longer and we will feel more fulfilled with what we have, causing us to buy less. I think the core of that rings true for me. The bits on top of that - about organizing your closet high to low, light to dark colors, etc. - I’m a little more skeptical of. But I loved getting a glimpse into Kondo’s whimsical and magical perspective. I find myself wanting to share in this perspective too, not because I believe it’s factually correct but because I think it would make my life more fun!
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