As if she wasn’t popular enough already, Marie Kondo’s new Netflix show, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, has made the organisation-guru even more accessible, and even more revered. As she goes into the home of normal people to instigate her KonMari methods throughout their cluttered houses, she brings a sense of realism and optimism to the viewer—showing them that actually, this whole minimalism thing isn’t all as far-fetched as they thought it was. Here’s why Marie Kondo’s Netflix show has the potential to change your life.
1. You’ll tap into your spiritual side
It’s likely that you have never previously considered tidying up to be remotely close to something spiritual, but Marie Kondo’s methods challenge that idea profusely. The KonMari methods are unusual (have you ever thought to thank each and every item of clothing for its service before placing it in a charity bin, or meditate in order to cleanse a room before it gets overhauled? Nope, we hadn’t either), but they add a much deeper layer to traditional cleaning and clearing out methods.
Ultimately, each step in Marie Kondo’s (seemingly peculiar) approach is designed to help people forge greater connections with their material possessions—and by extension, themselves. All of her tricks help people to invest a deeper emotional connection with the things that they own, in the hope that they’ll honour their things (and by extension, themselves) more in the future. How’s that for spiritual?!
2. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment
While you might expect to see jaw-dropping before and afters of hoarders-turned-minimalists, the reality of what you get is radically different. The show features imperfect people doing their imperfect best; tackling their mountains of stuff by themselves late into the night, without Marie there to hold their hands. This makes tidying up and tackling the mess feel realistic, achievable, hell—even empowering.
3. It teaches you to let go to things that no longer serve you
Cleaning out can be hard. As humans, we become so attached to the things and memories that a home holds and letting go of that by physically ridding your space of excess ‘things’ can be a truly emotional experience. But, it can also be seriously cathartic.
The thought of performing a mass declutter is often a whole lot more overwhelming than the process itself. When everything you own is tied to past relationships, old friends, family and various stages of life, letting go can be hard. But it also allows you to move forward with a clearer vision for the future.
4. It’ll help you find joy in everything around you
At the core of Marie Kondo’s ethos is to only keep things around you that spark joy or have a practical purpose within the home. While it might seem like an abstract statement, it’s actually a liberating sentiment when you start to apply it to your home and other aspects of your life.
Got a friend who doesn’t bring you joy? Stop wasting your time with them. Spending your early mornings slogging away at the gym, doing a type of workout that you don’t enjoy? Find something that you do enjoy. Become a slave to the job you hate? Take steps to change it. The principle is actually astonishingly simple. If it doesn’t spark joy, it has no place in your life.
