Essay: The Marie Kondo Method

Sparking Joy...and Controversy 

By Rachel Rivenbark 

Image Courtesy of Flickr and Web Summit

From Hoarders, to Clean House, to Mission: Organization, reality TV has spent the last two decades indulging the squeamish fascination that the American public has with, well… just how gross people can really be, behind closed doors. However, in recent years the world has been taken entirely by storm by the gentle-mannered ball of sunshine that is Marie Kondo, the professional organizer whose signature “KonMari” method of organizing has struck a note with many, earning her quite a few new fans… and no small number of enemies, it would seem.
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Having initially risen to fame through her bestselling guide to home organization, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Kondo has received a renewed spike in popularity ever since the debut of her Netflix special series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, which helps to show her methods used in practice within the homes of ordinary American families who struggle with their clutter. On this basic conceptual level, it in no way differs from any of the other clutter-crushing series mentioned above. A person has too much clutter, their home becomes a mess, the professional steps in to help, there’s a huge cleanup, and the homeowner goes on with their life having hopefully (but not likely) learned their lesson. 

But Kondo’s methods stand out from the crowd in two very distinct manners: her unusually positive approach to mess, and her distinct lack of American cultural assimilation, despite her popularity here. Non-Japanese speaking Netflix users need to rely heavily upon subtitles in order to understand what Kondo is saying throughout the show, as she remains very heavily rooted in the Japanese language and culture which serves as the basis for her home tidying philosophy. Going very much against the traditional shame-based teaching methods of other tidying shows, Kondo’s philosophy largely includes instead trying to find ways to “spark joy” within your life from the items you own - from the sentimentality of family photos, to the love of one’s baseball card collection, to the simple appreciation of the usefulness of basic items like underwear. She teaches homeowners to appreciate all the things that they have, while simultaneously letting go of that which simply brings no joy or usefulness to their lives. The entire process is often depicted as being an emotional, but largely positive and affirming experience for homeowners.

And yet, there are many who lash out against Kondo and all of her methods. Mockery and ridicule have been thrown at nearly every aspect of what makes Kondo such a unique professional in her field - from her preference to use a translator so that she may comfortably speak in her native Japanese, to her practice of having her clients greet and thank and communicate with their spaces, to her method of “waking up” inanimate objects and treating them as though they have feelings… the latter of which happens to be culturally rooted in her background as a former Shinto priestess, at a shrine. 

Talk show hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen Degeneres have invited Kondo onto their shows, only to make a joke out of the profession she takes quite seriously. Everything from inappropriate laugh tracks, to thinly veiled condescension and impatience, to Degeneres setting Kondo to work with an unwilling employee with vulgar items in his office - which he immediately set back exactly the way it was, upon Kondo’s departure - point to the distinct lack of respect for the reverence and the spirituality that Kondo presents in her work. 

Others in the “professional organizer” business have gone so far as to accuse Kondo of stealing their methods and claiming them as her own, such as organizer Linda Koopersmith making the claim that Kondo’s “KonMari” method of folding clothes in an upright position was supposedly first invented by her… never mind that the “KonMari method” is Kondo’s approach to organizing one’s entire house, and that there’s nothing unique whatsoever about folding clothes in an upright position (I’ve been doing it of my own accord since I was five, Linda - I presume your lawyer will be in touch?). 

What exactly is it about this seemingly delightful and lovely young woman that offends and threatens so many Americans? What is it about her gentle manner and positive approach to the topic of tidying that gets so many people’s hackles up? 

The answer is quite simple. Kondo’s practice of being mindful of what you own and what you bring into your home acts as a direct threat to the reality of the consumption-based capitalist society that is America. It defies the corporations that create “disposable fashion” of low quality, which require frequent replacement and bulk purchasing to keep the contents of our closets from falling apart. It challenges Americans to actually think harder about just how very wasteful we all are, as a country. Nobody likes being called out on their nasty habits, even in a gentle manner that simply seeks to ask whether our way of living actually makes us happy. Furthermore, the clear and significant spirituality which Kondo brings to the table with her philosophy - based heavily in the Shinto ideal that “kami,” or sacred energy, is present in places and inanimate objects which should therefore be treated with respect - rarely seems to cooperate well with the ethnocentrism that is so prevalent in American society. Some Americans don’t understand the culture and the significance behind these gestures, and rarely seem intent upon educating themselves on the matter, and so simply content themselves with laughing at the woman who taps and shakes books to “wake them up.” 

It’s no secret that some people are threatened by even the idea of change, of differing from the established norm. The concept that a woman of color whose ideals are quickly starting to reshape the way many Americans are looking at the world might staunchly - and more importantly, rightfully - refuse to censor herself and assimilate into our culture is perhaps, to some, a jarring one. The concept that she might do so while directly challenging America’s systematic gluttony is perhaps outright enraging. To some, Kondo might seem to present herself as a cardigan-wearing, 4’7” harbinger of doom to the American way of life. The term “sparking joy” may perhaps seem as something of a death knell to nationalism.

But perhaps, if we find ourselves - in this big, troubled world, with all its problems - getting so heinously outraged by a woman simply telling us to only keep the belongings that enrich our lives in some way, and to respect the places we live… just perhaps, it’s about time that some of these old, outdated ideas started to die off. They don’t spark joy, any longer.