Does It Spark Joy?
Marie Kondo,/a tidying consultant,/tells you to tidy up your personal space. She insists/that you should keep things/only if they “spark joy.”
It is human nature to collect things:/a lot of colorful pens,/a new pair of pants,/a fashionable T-shirt,/a pair of cool sneakers. We love these things when we buy them. However,/we put them into a drawer or a closet/and forget about them.
Soon our living space/is filled with too many things:/too many pairs of socks in our drawers,/too many shoes in our closet. Books. Books. Books. That can be a source of frustration. Our belongings/have turned out to be a real headache for us. What should we do?
Marie Kondo/(KonMari, for short)/has a solution. From an early age/she liked keeping her room neat and tidy. She was fascinated with magazine articles/about how to organize your space. She not only put her own space in order,/but she also cleaned and tidied up her sister’s room.
While in college,/KonMari started working as a tidying consultant in Japan. In 2014,/she went to the U.S./to introduce the “KonMari Method.” She has been working hard,/and her method is a great success/all over the world.
One of KonMari’s most important principles is this:/“Keep things/only if they ‘spark joy.’”
Some of her clients/have lots of unread books. But they don’t know/which to keep/and which to discard. Perhaps they will read them sometime. But “sometime” never comes. KonMari’s advice/is to take each book in your hands,/and if it sparks joy,/keep it. If not,/throw it away. But don’t forget to say,/“Thank you for your good service.”
She adds:/“You never read the book,/but you still learned something from it. You learned/that you didn’t need that book.”
The same applies to all of your belongings. That’s how/the process of tidying starts.
KonMari is not telling us/to throw out stuff ruthlessly. She treats her belongings like living things. One day,/while she was in high school,/she bought a new cell phone. Then she sent a message to her old phone:/“You have been helping me for many years. Thank you.” Her old phone rang immediately,/and she checked the text. Of course,/it was her message. She said to her old phone,/“Great. My message reached you.” Then,/she closed it.
When she opened her old phone a little later,/she was surprised to find a blank screen. Her old cell phone went dead/after receiving her message. Its job was done.
KonMari admits/that this was probably just a coincidence. But it illustrates her idea:/we should show respect to our belongings,/even when we are throwing them away. We have a very close relationship/with our belongings.
Our belongings are the result of our choices. No wonder/getting rid of things is so difficult. KonMari tells us to ask ourselves:/“Am I having trouble throwing this away/because of an attachment to the past/or because of fear of the future?” Asking that question/will help us discover our life values.
Tidying up is not just a way/to make our space more livable. It’s also a way to set our values/and decide our future. When we organize our rooms,/we learn to set priorities. When we throw away old belongings,/we learn to make decisions. Thus,/putting our space in order/profoundly affects our lives,/even work and family. Tidying up can transform our lives.
If you are uncertain about your future,/start sorting things out. What are you truly interested in? What do you want to do in the future? Why not give it a try?
Marie Kondo,/a tidying consultant,/tells you to tidy up your personal space. She insists/that you should keep things/only if they “spark joy.”
It is human nature to collect things:/a lot of colorful pens,/a new pair of pants,/a fashionable T-shirt,/a pair of cool sneakers. We love these things when we buy them. However,/we put them into a drawer or a closet/and forget about them.
Soon our living space/is filled with too many things:/too many pairs of socks in our drawers,/too many shoes in our closet. Books. Books. Books. That can be a source of frustration. Our belongings/have turned out to be a real headache for us. What should we do?
Marie Kondo/(KonMari, for short)/has a solution. From an early age/she liked keeping her room neat and tidy. She was fascinated with magazine articles/about how to organize your space. She not only put her own space in order,/but she also cleaned and tidied up her sister’s room.
While in college,/KonMari started working as a tidying consultant in Japan. In 2014,/she went to the U.S./to introduce the “KonMari Method.” She has been working hard,/and her method is a great success/all over the world.
One of KonMari’s most important principles is this:/“Keep things/only if they ‘spark joy.’”
Some of her clients/have lots of unread books. But they don’t know/which to keep/and which to discard. Perhaps they will read them sometime. But “sometime” never comes. KonMari’s advice/is to take each book in your hands,/and if it sparks joy,/keep it. If not,/throw it away. But don’t forget to say,/“Thank you for your good service.”
She adds:/“You never read the book,/but you still learned something from it. You learned/that you didn’t need that book.”
The same applies to all of your belongings. That’s how/the process of tidying starts.
KonMari is not telling us/to throw out stuff ruthlessly. She treats her belongings like living things. One day,/while she was in high school,/she bought a new cell phone. Then she sent a message to her old phone:/“You have been helping me for many years. Thank you.” Her old phone rang immediately,/and she checked the text. Of course,/it was her message. She said to her old phone,/“Great. My message reached you.” Then,/she closed it.
When she opened her old phone a little later,/she was surprised to find a blank screen. Her old cell phone went dead/after receiving her message. Its job was done.
KonMari admits/that this was probably just a coincidence. But it illustrates her idea:/we should show respect to our belongings,/even when we are throwing them away. We have a very close relationship/with our belongings.
Our belongings are the result of our choices. No wonder/getting rid of things is so difficult. KonMari tells us to ask ourselves:/“Am I having trouble throwing this away/because of an attachment to the past/or because of fear of the future?” Asking that question/will help us discover our life values.
Tidying up is not just a way/to make our space more livable. It’s also a way to set our values/and decide our future. When we organize our rooms,/we learn to set priorities. When we throw away old belongings,/we learn to make decisions. Thus,/putting our space in order/profoundly affects our lives,/even work and family. Tidying up can transform our lives.
If you are uncertain about your future,/start sorting things out. What are you truly interested in? What do you want to do in the future? Why not give it a try?