Last week I saw an article in my feed about the Japanese decluttering extraordinaire Marie Kondo. Since the birth of her third child, she says she has “kind of given up” on tidying. Admitting that with three children to look after, her family home is “messy” and tidying up less of a priority and is now spending her time in the right way for this stage of her life. The tidying guru comments that her life has changed significantly since the arrival of her son in 2021.
“I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,” she said “Now I realise what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”
KonMari, Kondo’s tidying method, was outlined in the 2011 book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. This method encouraged categorising items like clothes, books and sentimental items to figure out whether they “spark joy” in the owner. During lockdown I did read this book, writing a blog at the time about it, whilst re-organising my own stuff. Once back in the real world and with less spare time on my hands, I have regressed slightly, to some minor disorganisation. I have continued to accumulate stuff, that possibly I don’t need. I feel I may not be the only one!
We had embraced radical de-cluttering as a way to improve our life’s, but possibly had taken this a step too far. Having read the original book again, I feel that there was a degree of misinterpretation. I gained two lovely China mugs from a friend (that she loved herself) because they no longer fitted her newly re-organised kitchen. Pinterest is a flood with homes that have been re-arranged to the point of obsessive-compulsive disorder. As a natural tidy and organized person, I find it far too much neatness. A home should feel lived in, which suggests a little bit of non-tidiness. Tidying our homes didn’t change our life’s much in most cases, although it helped to find things quicker. After re-reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I did throw away some reading glasses I have been meaning to repair for at least a year and took some clothes that I will never wear again to my local charity shop. So, that’s not such a bad result!
Over a decade on from the launch of her bestselling book, in 2022, Marie Kondo returned with her new wisdom on how to transform your life and home into spaces of calm with Marie Kondo at Home. This introduces the concept of Kurashi– which means a way of life, encouraging you to spend every day in the pursuit of joy. Marie moves her focus from the physical act of tidying alone towards a more holistic and personal approach to curating your environment. To help guide everything that we do expanding well beyond the home. She says that her way of life has changed and her focus has shifted from organisation to finding simple ways to bring everyday happiness.
“The true purpose of tidying is not to cut down on your possessions or declutter your space, the ultimate goal is to spark joy every day and lead a joyful life. I believe that when we consciously cherish something precious, we deepen our relationship with it. This, in turn, deepens our bonds with other things in our lives, bringing out the best in them and in ourselves.” Marie Kondo
In her new book, she writes: “Tidying up means dealing with all the ‘things’ in your life.” For Kondo, this means evaluating how you order your life and creating your own rhythm based on what fills you with joy.
So, I guess she came to the same conclusion that we all came to by ourselves. Having said that I may read the new book!
For more details view https://konmari.com/what-is-kurashi/
Created Curated by Sara Brown 