The headlines seemed shocking.
“Marie Kondo’s life is messier now — and she’s fine with it,” The Washington Post declared in a Jan. 26 story.
National Public Radio (NPR), picking up the Post’s story, slapped this headline on its account: “Marie Kondo revealed she’s ‘kind of given up’ on being so tidy. People freaked out.”
Here’s Marie’s quote that got everyone so ruffled: “Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times. I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”
She apparently dropped that “bomb” into a media seminar, and the reaction was immediate, with the phrase “kind of given up on that” causing a stir on platforms like Twitter. Most of those who jumped in to make #MarieKondo a trending hashtag defended her, however.
And for good reason—because what’s really going on isn’t Marie abandoning or minimizing her defining principles. With three children and all that comes with that, she’s personally making the type of life-changing adjustments we always encourage and foster as Certified KonMari Consultants.
My personal philosophy, which I’ve branded not only as the Sage of Interiors but also as The Tidy Lifestyle Doctor, has always included a view of the whole lifestyle picture, as well as encouragement to understand that successfully moving toward joy doesn’t mean one’s commitment to decluttering and maintaining a tidy home has to be perfect.
Combating clutter is part of a much larger and more complex process of reckoning with one’s lifestyle, envisioning the ideal, and working to achieve that status.
It’s all about balance, alignment, and equilibrium. And clutter is the enemy of all those things, which drives the KonMari Method’s focus on comprehensive decluttering.
But KonMari is also part of the larger Japanese concept of kurashi, or “way of life.”
“Tidying up means dealing with all the ‘things’ in your life. So, what do you really want to put in order?” Marie asks in her newest book, “Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life.”
Kurashi, or what you want as your ideal way of life, is what my KonMari consulting work is all about. On my Tidy Lifestyle Doctor page, I say this:
I engage in deep, compassionate listening and respond with strategies and services that provide a sense of “healing” for the body, mind, and soul.
The balance tips toward physical healing in my chiropractic practice and lifestyle healing in my KonMari consulting.
I often end up having a relationship with both patients and clients that involves a journey of emotional discovery, in which I function as a lifestyle coach and shepherd them through lifestyle realignments, as well as body, mind, and spirit enhancements.
Just as Marie’s recent quotes shocked some who have followed her journey, it may come as a surprise that my emphasis on the salutary powers of tidiness has embraced the reality that decluttering meshes with and supports other important lifestyle goals to different degrees for different people.
So, you see, I wasn’t shocked by Marie’s evolution as it was revealed recently to the media. Nor was there any temptation to judge her for making concessions regarding the sanctity of the tidying mission just because she now has a family life complicated by all that comes with children.
Instead, I’m proud of Marie for achieving a new level of enlightenment in which sparking joy depends on being tidy to a degree that’s also a little messy. To be honest, it’s a little more human in the best way.
~
Email me at [email protected] or give me a call at (203) 772-8883 to discuss what’s misaligned in your home, your body, your mind, and your spirit and we’ll determine an action plan. Call me at 203-910-6185 for more information specifically about my healthcare practice.