Monday, July 1, 2019

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The book is always better than the movie. Except in the case of The Help. The movie version of Kathryn Stockett's novel was just as good as the book. This was one of those books that I stayed up all night reading. Put Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer in a movie together, and you have a winner. I still cannot look at a can of Crisco and not think of Octavia Spencer teaching Jessica Chastain how to make fried chicken. But I digress.

I haven't called into a radio station since my 20s, but I was inspired while listening to K-Love one morning several months ago. They were discussing a show on Netflix about organization. The hosts were talking about how to go through their closets and decide what to keep and what to toss based on the KonMarie method. According to their interpretation of the KonMarie method, if an item doesn't spark joy, you can get rid of it.

I immediately reframed Kondo's words --- without having read her book. Give the item away, I thought, because it might spark joy for someone else. So I called in. And I explained my thoughts on how God calls us to be kind to others and to give to others and that these "things" we have in excess or "things" we no longer need can spark joy in others. I told the story of how I gave away most of my boys' baby clothes and sent them to Armenia, knowing they would bring joy and comfort to the moms during the harsh winters. And that kind of thinking would make it easier to organize your closet I confidently told the radio hosts.

Everywhere I went for these few months I kept hearing about this new Netflix show which I hadn't yet seen.

Then I heard this Marie Kondo woman was telling people they should only own 30 books. What? I mean I delight in buying bookshelves. I love displaying my books, grouping them. I've kept most of my books from graduate school.

Thinking this Kondo woman must be insane, I reposted a Facebook article that talked about how having home libraries will encourage your children to be readers and remarked, "Take that, Marie Kondo!" And still, I had not read the book.

Then I watched a few episodes. I found the kneeling on the floor and blessing the home a little quirky.   I listened to many of her tricks about grouping things together. The bag inside the bag. Well, I like having only one good purse, so that wasn't going to help. I kept wondering when she was going to get to the papers. The papers! What wisdom would she share that might help me unload these piles of papers I have kept over the years. And I wanted to know what she had to say about those 30 books. And why only 30.

I watched the second or third episode where one family was piling garbage bag after garbage bag outside their home. That didn't sit right with me. Were those all going to go in into a landfill? Why couldn't each of those items find a new home where it would be appreciated and used and spark joy?

And then I read the book. And I liked her. I found this woman vulnerable. And vulnerability resonates with me these days. If you haven't already seen Brene Brown's TedTalk, you need to understand the concept that vulnerability and courage go hand-in-hand. I kept thinking as I read through The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up that Marie Kondo was daring greatly. I mean, who admits that they obsessively cleaned and organized from the young age of 5? Who admits in a public forum that they felt forgotten as the middle child and turned to organizing and cleaning? Who admits to enjoying finding the perfect container and then searching for ways to use it to store items? And isn't that what I want to do here? Isn't blogging about how much this book is transforming me daring greatly? Am I stepping into the arena when I openly acknowledge that I absolutely love grammar, and I will correct your grammar errors . . . and explain why they are errors. I don't do this to lift myself up and to put you down. I do it because I like to follow the rules. And I like to share my knowledge. And  because it offends me in a strange sense to see bad grammar. I liken it to a person who loves math and someone writes 4+4=7. Well, no, it doesn't. And they can tell you why, and they will most definitely tell you why.

I also wondered many times while reading the book how having written it in Japanese and having it translated to English may have affected my perception of the writer. She is not a native speaker of English, but how bold and brave to get on television and host a show.



I found her to be self-aware. I found her to truly want to help others find joy . . . . and purpose in their lives.

And after reading the book I had to confront my obsession with The Container Store. I'm still wondering if I can return this.



The truth is that I love gift bags. I feel like they are part of the gift itself because they can be used over and over again. I love buying beautiful gift bags, and sometimes I won't even write on the tag because I want the person to be able to use the bag again. So do you think even without a receipt I can return this?

By the end of the book, I realized how much I agree with Marie Kondo. And the truth is that she never said you can only have 30 books. She said SHE has kept only about 30 books. But the wisdom she imparts about how to choose helped me go through my bookshelves and take a closer look. I made a pile for this single dad I sit next to whose son is going into fourth grade. He knows I'm an educator and had been asking me for recommendations. I set aside a pile for a cousin who I know is trying to start a family. I put some in My Little Library outside my house. I made a pile of books to check and see if the local library carries because I think they should have the most up-to-date books on ADHD and ASD. And they probably don't. I sparked a whole lotta joy doing all that. And there is still a whole lotta joy on my shelves. Books bring me joy. So, no, I'm not going to count and tell you how many books I have, but the ones on my shelves are part and parcel of me. They are ones that are teaching me about my boys and parenting, or they are books I picked up to inform a product I'm creating.

While I am still in the midst of organizing, and while I have strayed a bit from the order she recommends, I believe I am making progress. Three garage sales later and many, many, many gift-aways to friends and family, I have sparked much joy these last few months . . . both in my joy and elsewhere.

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