Spark joy in your life — why you need to watch “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” immediately

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Spark joy in your life — why you need to watch

If you own a Netflix account, it’s likely you have noticed one show pop up again and again: Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.

You might recognize the name Marie Kondo from her massively-popular book. Marie Kondo is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and the creator of the organizing and tidying approach — The KonMari Method™.

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

Now, there is a new 8-episode Netflix series based on the book and hosted by Marie Kondo herself. And it is pure joy. After one episode I was hooked.

Marie Kondo is colorful and bursting with joy, gratitude, and enthusiasm as she helps couples and families reorganize and tidy up their homes. This show is not exactly a dramatic “move-that-bus” kind of transformation show. Rather it’s a subtle reveal with the major transformation happening within the mindset and habits of the people on the show.

The show’s New Year premiere is perfect timing for when most of us are still motivated and setting resolutions—the show is, at its core, fundamentally about creating literal and figurative space for a new you, for the person you’re striving to be.

In each episode, Marie Kondo enters the family’s home and helps them transform their living space with her simple method.

And unlike other tidying and cleaning strategies, the KonMari Method™ organizes by category.

The 5 categories:

  1. Clothes

  2. Books

  3. Papers

  4. Komono (miscellaneous items i.e. kitchen, bathroom)

  5. Sentimental Items

With the KonMari Method™, there’s a place for everything: your keys always go on the hook by the door, not on the closest table. Your coat always lives in the closet, not thrown on the nearest chair. Clothes hang on hangers, not the floor. You get the idea. When everything has a designated spot, it’s much easier to keep your place tidy.

In every episode, Kondo helps the family go through each category asking family members to keep only the items that speak to their heart and then discard items that no longer spark joy. You thank the items for their service — then let them go.

Kondo stresses that the point is not to force yourself to get rid of things for the sheer sake of organization, but to confirm how you feel about each item you possess and use items with intention.

“The tidying process is not about decluttering your house or making it look neat on the spur of the moment for visitors,” Kondo says during one episode, “You are about to tidy up in a way that will spark joy in your life and change it forever.

In deciding what to give away and what to keep, Kondo asks that you imagine your ideal lifestyle. What things don’t belong in your life ahead? Get rid of items that don’t fit with the future you want and imagine for yourself. Create a space for your ideal self.

Throughout every episode Kondo also cuts away to show the viewer tips on organization like how to fold clothes or to organize kitchen utensils.

And after one cutaway was entirely dedicated to storing bras in a way that will bring you joy, I was an official Marie Kondo fan. She said, “Bras are special items for women… store them with V.I.P. treatment. Arrange them in a way where you don’t smoosh the cups.”

Never again will I smoosh the cups.

Now, if you’re like most after watching the show, you’re going to want to immediately implement the KonMari Method™ in your own home.

And similar to the experience of several families on the show, if you apply her method to your own home, it may reveal relationship dynamics and imbalances within your household. But it also changes those imbalances. Everyone gets involved in the process. It’s a shared experience and a shared responsibility for everyone — the burden to keep the home tidy won’t fall on just one person.

Sounds good to me.

For Marie Kondo, tidying isn’t just about organizing your home, it’s about creating a welcoming space and inviting a positive environment into your home and into your life. Certainly, you can’t help but think this powerful mindset could transfer to other aspects of your life. Perhaps now that your home is all tidy, you can find the people, the places, and the experiences that spark joy.

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