Photo by Flickr user westher
A few years ago I bought a book by the Japanese author Marie Kondo called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and attempted to clean up my ever-accumulating stuff. I followed her instructions by taking clothing piece by piece, staring at it, asking myself if it brought joy. If not, I thanked it and got rid of it. Initially I found it awkward but got the hang of it and was able to clean up quite a bit.
Last year I listened to an interesting Katie Couric podcast with Marie Kondo so when I learned that she had a new Netflix show where she visits a new family each episode to help implement her KonMari decluttering method I knew I had to check it out. I found it somewhat entertaining and inspiring but my Japanese wife and daughter thought some of Ms. Kondo’s mannerisms quite annoying. Like when entering a home to squeal, “Haaaaiiiiii”. Or kneeling in silence for a few minutes to greet the dwelling. So much so that I told them to show some respect for other cultures. 😀