How KonMari Changed My Life {Before The Netflix Show Came Out}

August 23, 2019

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I read Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up last year and became a huge fan {and dedicated disciple} of her tidying up and Sparking Joy method. I followed her instructions to the T and over a month or so, I KonMari’d all my possessions.

It was the best thing I ever did. She says in her book that her method will change your life. And she’s right. I know KonMari has become such a huge trend now and it’s everywhere because of her Netflix series releasing this year. {I watched a few episodes and I think it SUCKS. It does not show the essence of this tiny, adorable, brilliant woman’s method, her wit and her sharp mind the way her books do.} And maybe you’re getting sick of seeing KonMari everywhere. But here’s why you should read her books {there are two} and you should incorporate this simple but wonderful method into your life.

The KonMari method is all about sparking joy. The way you tidy everything is by asking yourself if it sparks joy. If it doesn’t, it has to go. When I read this, I fell in love with it because all my life I have been trying to do everything to increase happiness. You know I’m all about loving yourself, making your life beautiful and increasing happiness levels. And Marie’s method uses exactly that ONE thing as a gauge- joy, happiness.

But the life-changing part of it is that it runs deeper than just the things in your home. Because throughout her book she tells you that by going through her cleaning process {she has a certain sequence of cleaning out the items in your house} you will teach yourself to identify things that spark joy in every single area of your life and to go about your life making sure that everything you do makes you happy.

And that’s the real purpose of the KonMari method. She wants you to learn how to ONLY do the things that spark joy and not settle for anything less. She wants you to make your life beautiful, starting with the things you own so you see beauty and joy even when you open a drawer. Here are mine, below:

In her book, she says that many of her clients, after finishing tidying up their house, saw a major improvement in their life. They got out of a miserable relationship. They left a job they hated. They lost weight.

All these things happen because through the tidying process, you train yourself to know what makes you happy. And it’s not just what makes you happy happy. It’s sparking joy. It’s more than just happiness. It’s something that makes you feel that zing of pleasure shoot up your body. It’s a spark. A flash, a jolt, a burst. Of euphoria, jubilation, ecstasy. So much better than plain old happiness.

After KonMari’ing your home and possessions, she tells you that everything you buy from this point on must spark joy. In the shop, you need to touch it and ask yourself if it sparks joy. If it doesn’t, don’t buy it. So the method doesn’t stop once your home is tidied. {That’s also the exact reason it stays tidy. Because you’re no longer getting things that don’t spark joy.}

Once you get into the KonMari and sparking-joy flow, you start to ask yourself- what else is in my life that doesn’t spark joy? My friends? My job? My apartment? You start to alter your entire life and decision-making process around joy.

What I particularly love about this is that It’s such a simple solution to everything. Don’t know what to do in a particular situation? Ask yourself if what you’re about to do sparks joy. Don’t know what to choose from the menu? Ask yourself if it sparks joy. Don’t know if you want to go out or stay in? Ask yourself which one sparks joy.

This method has become my go-to. I use it for everything. For instance, while choosing which photos to keep for my post after a shoot, I look at each photo and ask if it sparks joy. If not, I delete it. Even for working with clients in my business, I ask myself -do they spark joy? If not, I reject the client. I have never regretted it. It has served me perfectly and worked for me every single time for everything.

WHY this works is very simple- it hones your intuition. Your instincts and gut always know what is right and wrong for you. By you asking your heart {yes, you’re asking your heart. I know this because when I ask myself if something beautiful sparks joy, my heart will say no but the rational brain will say HOW CAN IT NOT SPARK JOY IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL. But the heart quietly whispers again- no.} if something sparks joy, you are listening to it more. You start to ask your heart more questions. This makes your intuition really sharp and focused. It knows when to speak up. It guides you.

I noticed that doing this method for more than a year now, my intuition has become stronger. And I can give you an example of it because it happened 10 minutes before I started writing this post. I was home on a Friday afternoon and my intuition told me to dress up, go to a particular cafe at a particular location, and write. So I did. When I ordered the food and coffee at this cafe using my credit card, I got it for free because of a promotion going on by the credit card company. It's the little things like this that reassure me that my intuition is getting stronger.

So yes, I’m a big fan of the KonMari method and I like to experiment with it by finding newer and different things to ask myself about it sparking joy. I love how my room {I live with my family and as I mentioned in this post, I can’t really KonMari the entire home so I at least did it for my room and my stuff} looks now, and how each drawer, each bit of space looks and how easy it is to find all my stuff. I love how it simplifies my shopping process and all other decision-making processes in my life.

To sum it up, I urge you to read Marie Kondo’s books. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up. Your home will look beautiful and tidy if you follow the KonMari method, this is a given. If not for anything, read her books for the wit and humour of her writing. But yes, read them to get motivated to declutter your space, your mind, your life. It really is like magic and it truly is life-changing.