We hope everyone had a good holiday and a happy new year!
To start off the new year, I relaxed and watched Netflix as we did some chores around the house. While watching, I stumbled across the new Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”. If you’re not familiar, Marie Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant and wrote the bestselling book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”. Now, I’ve heard several good things about this book, but have never actually read it myself. All I knew was that it was about cleaning up and decluttering.
I was debating on watching the show (and reading the book) because I was afraid of feeling guilty of my own house clutter. We have a lot of stuff in the house and I’ve been afraid to admit and address the problem. And every time I think of the clutter, I get instantly stressed and not sure where to start, so nothing changes.
Since it was new years day after all, I decided to watch an episode in hopes it would inspire me to start cleaning decluttering our home. And wow, I am glad I started watching.
First episode in, I was inspired. Marie Kondo is this petite Japanese woman that emits such a peaceful ray of energy. She focuses on gratitude and positivity, which I admire. And what I really love so far about the show is that it isn’t judgy nor preachy. It is educational and approachable. The decluttering method (“KonMari method”) isn’t as intimidating and overwhelming as I thought it would be.
Sometimes watching these types of shows about fixing up the house or totally cleaning out the house can be unrealistic. Sure, I would love to remodel our home in several ways and clear out certain areas, but that can be costly and overwhelming. That’s not what happened in this show. She would give them knowledge on how to fold clothes, how to organize and store items, and how to get rid of stuff you don’t need. I have yet to finish the series, but so far no demolishing of walls or buying expensive furniture for organizing. They were all simple, yet powerful pieces of knowledge on how to declutter your home. And the results of the cleaning are not “perfect” like what you would see in a designer magazine or traditional home makeover show, but rather show a clean and clutter free house. You can just sense the relief from the homeowners and happiness from being able to have a system and keep their homes a home. Now that is cool.
One of the main takeaways that I learned is to keep items that spark joy. If something doesn’t spark joy, don’t keep it. She also says to thank that item for gratitude. It might sound odd to some people, but I thought that was amazing.
As 2019 begins, now I’m inspired to work towards tidying up and keeping the things that spark joy. Do you have any new years resolutions? Have you seen the show or read the book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
