By now, just about everyone has heard the words “spark joy.” Whether you’ve heard it from her Netflix show or read it from her book, Marie Kondo and those signature words are everywhere. She is the woman who created the KonMari method: The Japanese art of tidying, which centers around only keeping things that spark joy for the owner. After beginning to read her book and watch her show, I became instantly inspired to begin tidying. The KonMari method is an absolutely effective way to tidy and, as cheesy as it may seem, really does change your life.
The KonMari method starts with clothes. You take out all the clothes you own and dump them on your bed. Kondo’s show had taught me to hold each of my clothes one by one, and only keep the ones that sparked joy, or made me feel happy. At this point in the process, I was embarrassed. I saw the amount of clothes I had, and realized I had never been grateful enough for the things I was so lucky to own. I had also not taken care of my clothes well, cramming them into the drawers so they became wrinkled. In other words, I felt confronted by my belongings. One of the greatest things about the KonMari method is the confrontation. You have to dump all your clothes on the bed so you feel confronted, become more grateful, and want to fold them all away cleanly and never revert to your cluttered ways ever again.
One would think you might not finish folding all your clothes away before you go to bed and you’d be sleeping on top of a mountain of clothes, but for me, the confrontation kept me motivated to finish. When I finished sorting through my clothes, I was filled with a sense of control and peace in my life. The strange thing is that one of the best parts of the entire process for me was folding my clothes away after sorting. Kondo said that folding should be somewhat meditative, and it actually is very peaceful to smooth the cloth over with your hands after each fold. My mom even makes folding more enjoyable by playing her Spotify playlist of Elton John and the Bee Gees.
Kondo has also shown me that simplicity is beautiful. Her method consists of using cardboard boxes for storage, but the boxes aren’t extravagant. They’re plain, solid-colored boxes. I used to believe that boxes should be highly decorated and bright, but I soon learned the plain boxes look so much better. The simple design is relaxing, and looks neater. Recently, my family and I began using plain glass jars to store office supplies, and that shelf, which I’ve spent hours trying to make look nice, has never looked better. The KonMari method can change your life so fast and make it so much more peaceful.
I completely recommend the KonMari method of tidying. Not only is Marie Kondo the sweetest and most charming woman, but her method also inspires and works. The skeptical feelings and the unsureness of how tidying can really make an impact in your life all go away when you see your clothes neatly folded away like they deserve to be, and she encourages you to keep trusting the process and watch how the tidying makes you feel more peaceful and in control of your life.