We are more than a month into a federal government shutdown. There are strong feelings (obviously) about a border wall and who will be paying for it. Federal workers are missing their second paycheck, heading to food pantries and calling in sick to jobs that want them to do the work now for a paycheck later. With those headlines, I thought I knew what I would read when I got an email this week that pronounced: “The most controversial topic so far this year”
I was wrong.
With some delight, I read that, according to the sender of the email, the most controversial topic so far this year was not a wall or a shutdown. It’s Marie Kondo and her organizational method of “tidying up.” Marie focuses on decluttering by getting rid of things in your home or office space that do not “spark joy.”
Marie began organizing her family’s home when she was just a little lass, then monetized her passion as a college student. She wrote her first book, “The Magic of Tidying Up” in 2011 in her native Japanese. The book made its way across the pond in 2014, sparking both joy and angst when it landed in the States.
The #KonMari method, as she named her approach, is one way to participate in a growing movement of “minimalism.” Its popularity seems to be a tacit acknowledgement that many (most?) of us have way too much stuff. (And let me just say right now that I know it is a privileged position to live in large enough spaces, with enough disposable income to be able to accumulate a lot of junk.)
Netflix is no dummy and bought the rights to “Tidying Up” three years ago. They filmed a new series featuring Marie consulting with people about organizing their homes and then released it the first week of January — peak time for “resolutions." Smart.
Now for the controversial, angsty part. Some people (like me) are overwhelmed at the amount of time it would take to de-clutter, just in general, and hardly know where to start. Marie’s approach to clothes, for example, is take all the clothes you own, from every corner where they may lurking and pile them on the bed. As you go through, piece by piece, you keep only the ones that “spark joy” — or, that you rate as a 9 or 10, with other organizing methods and then donate the ones you are not keeping. But what happens when your modus operandi to putting clothes away is to move them from the bed to the floor at night and back to the bed in the morning? I guess you could count it as an arm workout. Lift, two, three, lift, two, three.
The other controversy to have hearts all a’flutter is Marie’s approach to books. Her personal preference is to have about 30 books. Social media exposed with memes mocking the idea of 30 books. One asked “That’s 30 per genre, right?” Another showed a towering stack of books on a bedside table with a caption that read “30 on my nightstand.” And my favorite from author Jamie Ford: A picture of a bed made entirely from books and a caption that asks “Is this what Marie Kondo meant by only keeping books that spark joy?”
I love, love, love books. I have them in practically every room of my house and on all of my electronic devices. I consume 100+ books a year. I subscribe to the idea that “You can’t buy happiness but you can buy books - and that’s kind of the same thing." Beast’s library in Beauty and the Beast is pretty much my idea of heaven.
But even I can see value in Marie’s suggestions. Some of the books that I can happily release to bring joy to others including college textbooks from 1984, the Reader’s Digest condensed books I somehow accumulated, manuals for building a computer from the early 90s and books that I read once and that was enough. As difficult as it is to admit, not all of the books I own are worth keeping.
Marie Kondo says “Keep only things that speak to your heart.” Even books.
Holly Richardson, a regular contributor to The Salt Lake Tribune, is grateful for people in her universe who believe the most controversial topic this month is whether or not to get rid of books.
