What’s most revolutionary about Marie Kondo’s new Netflix show
What pleased me as much as the recent announcement of Netflix’s Tidying Up With Marie Kondo was seeing how well-received the show has been with professional organizers. They day after its premier, my NAPO listserv was abuzz with positive reviews. You’d think this would be obvious, but I’ve witnessed the organizing community having been a little hard on Kondo, given her method of “tidying” is quite regimented and extreme. But, even organizers were gushing and letting go of more after watching just the first episode!
Even though my organizing approach differs from Kondo’s, I’m a huge fan. I’ll probably never teach clients her method of folding or suggest they completely finish organizing their clothes before moving on to paper, but I’m impressed with how she has singlehandedly has altered the mood of decluttering in this country by gifting our lexicon with phrases such as “spark joy." She approaches homes with a belief that they, no matter their state, deserve our gratitude and respect, teaching us how to use joy as our guide towards what stays and to thank our items as they are released.
What’s so notable in an organizing show is that she doesn’t focus on the homes’ aesthetics, but instead, their occupants' feelings towards what is in their homes. The Atlantic’s article “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo isn’t Really a Makeover Show” shares:
“The point of this process,” Kondo says through her interpreter, “isn’t to force yourself to eliminate things; it’s really to confirm how you feel about each and every item that you possess.” In other words, You do you.
This is revolutionary. Though that’s her explicit aim, things do start to fly out the door in the process. Where Kondo's strict method absolutely accounts for individual differences is in the example of her being beyond pleased with a client keeping dozens of boxes of baseball cards, even though they’re not useful or beautiful. They “spark joy” for their owner, and he did a great deal of work to determine that.
Watch the show’s trailer here.
Read The Atlantic’s “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo isn’t Really a Makeover Show”.
