On Tidying Up

mariekondo    /muhREE KAHNdō/

verb mariekondoed, mariekondoing
      
      to purge those items which do not bring a person joy

      Today I mariekondoed the heck out of my family room.

Yes, my friends, the mariekondo phenomenon that is sweeping the nation has indeed swept our house too.  Since Christmas break, I have been purging and reorganizing and it feels great. To be totally honest, I started this bout of purging before actually watching her show, but sometime in late Christmas break, my kids and I watched a few episodes, and her gentle, firm demeanor just added fuel to my fire.  I have taken several loads to Goodwill already, with more ready to go once the temperature reaches a respectable number.

Have you seen the show?  Just kidding, of course you have!  The show stars Marie Kondo, a lovely little gal who gently visits people's homes and proceeds to revolutionize their lives, all without ever raising her voice or slouching in the slightest. Years ago, Marie wrote a book entitled The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  When I heard about the book,  I checked it out from the library and skimmed it/tried to read it/had good intentions of reading it.  Then later, I got it on audio book and listened to it for about 20 minutes one day while folding laundry and then promptly forgot about it.  So when I saw that Netflix had a show called Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, I knew it was fate that I watch it - after all, I had almost read some of her book!  So I tuned in and was immediately concerned.  Subtitles?  Marie with ramrod posture and such a quiet, demure manner? I was used to Chip and Joanna for goodness sakes! I wasn't sure I'd make it.

But as I watched the first episode about a young couple who felt overwhelmed (and tried not to gasp with jealously when I heard the stay-at-home-mom sent her laundry out to be done!), I was gradually sucked in.  Early on in the episode, Marie had the family do a sort of awkward thing:  thank their house.  The husband looked decidedly uncomfortable at the beginning, but by the end was a little emotional, and so was I.

I was thinking of our house. Our often-messy, always loud, never-fully-cleaned, usually-needing-updated house. And I felt a little sentimental myself (shocking, I know).  I love our house!  Our house might not be perfect, it's definitely not huge and it sometimes needs more attention than we can give it.  But it has been the beautiful backdrop for almost all of our family memories, and I knew it deserved our thanks.  Since actually thanking the house was a little out of my comfort zone, I said a prayer of thanks for our house and all the joy it has brought and continues to bring our family. Score one for Marie!

And as the kids and I watched subsequent episodes, I found I was enthralled by her kind and sweet approach to our belongings. The older I get, the more I find myself embracing the idea of "less is more", and the concept of keeping only what brings us joy resonated with me.  I don't follow her method exactly, but I have been thinking about what our family needs and what our family uses as I purge and organize.

So thank you, Marie, for the life-changing magic you're bestowing on all of America.  I think we needed you.