Imagine coming home from a long day. You are tired. You go to your room and lie down on the bed. You stretch yourself. You then get up, rest back on your palms and look around. Oh look! The jewelry box you got as a wedding gift! And there's your favorite perfume right next it. The book you are reading now is on the side table. The curtains you so carefully picked out brightens your room. Everywhere you look at makes you happy.
This is the core of Marie Kondo's book 'The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up'. I first came across the book while scrolling down my Youtube feed. There seemed to be a lot of Youtubers who were trying out her book, and the results were quite impressive. I didn't buy it immediately though. I went through loads of reviews before deciding to invest on it. So, on going to India I placed an order for the book and started reading it as soon I got my hands on it.
The language is quite simple and easy to follow. I loved that the book was peppered with her personal experiences, starting with her journey in organizing as a child, to her experiences with her many clients. And man could I relate to many of them! And once I realized that, I was hooked. Here are a few things about KonMari (Kondo's method of organizing):
1) Does it spark joy? - this is the main principle of KonMarie, where you select what you keep at home by asking yourself this question. And I sort of liked that. I mean, my house seems to inevitably be cluttered with all these small items, trinkets. ads and stuff. And as much as looking at them gets me anxious I still somehow end up having them at home. But once I came across this 'spark joy' mantra, I have been very conscious about what I bring into the house.
2) Cleaning by category instead of cleaning by room. Kondo tells to start with clothes. Yours, your husband's, children's, everyone's. You just finish cleaning that in one go and then move on to the next category, books. This made sense to me, because many a times I would clean one room and discard an item, only to come across the same thing in another room. But if you tackle one category at a time you get rid of this problem.
3) Respecting our belongings. I didn't really get it till I cleaned my cupboard. I took each cloth in hand and looked at it. Really looked at it. By respecting each item I gave them the space they deserved, be it hanging it if the dress was flowy or folding it and placing it on the shelf if it was better that way. And once I finished it all, the cupboard actually looked good. I think this was because I took extra care to not only see if the clothes went into their correct space, where it looked like it was at home, but also kept only those that actually made me happy.
4) The power of storage boxes! Seriously, I had no idea they could be that useful. I used shoeboxes (which the author recommends) as storage spaces. By folding everything, from dresses to socks in separate storage boxes, the space in my cupboard increased drastically. Not ony that, but the entire space looked so compact and neat!
5) The last point that struck a chord with me was, to not be ruled over by emotions. Many times I come across things that holds some sentimental value. But Kondo says that those emotions can be in your heart, but not necessarily in your house occupying space. I sort of felt that was a permission given to me to get rid of many things.
As I tackled this project, I gathered about 5-6 bags. And as each bag kept filling up, I physically felt my shoulders lighten from the load that was no longer there.
Of course I did stray a bit. I felt my scarves would look good if they are hanged up (which Kondo doesn't recommend) and it does! So each time I open the door, it looks so wonderful to see all those colors and I love it! She did say something that sparks joy, right? So I guess it's cool :)
