Rule 6: Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy – KonMari | The Official Website of Marie Kondo (2024)
Only you can know what kind of environment makes you happy – this is the underlying principle of the KonMari Method™. It’s also what sets it apart from other tidying techniques that rely on strict guidelines instead of personal criteria. You’ve probably heard “Discard anything you haven’t used in two years,” or “Every time you buy something new, get rid of something old.” But Marie’s method is different.
In the KonMari Method™, your feelings are the standard for decision making – specifically, knowing what sparks joy. To determine this when tidying, the key is to pick up each object one at a time, and ask yourself quietly, “Does this spark joy?” Pay attention to how your body responds. Joy is personal, so everyone will experience it differently; Marie describes it as “…a little thrill, as if the cells in your body are slowly rising.”
Through the process of selecting only those things that inspire joy, you can identify precisely what you love – and what you need.
Proceed to Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy in the 6 Rules of Tidying. Only you can know what kind of environment makes you happy – this is the underlying principle of the KonMari
KonMari
Enchanted with organizing since her childhood, Marie began her tidying consultant business as a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo. Today, Marie is a renowned tidying expert helping people around the world to transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration.
Since becoming a mother to three children, she said her way of life had changed and her focus had shifted from organisation to drawing on simple ways to bring happiness to everyday things. In the book, she writes: “Tidying up means dealing with all the 'things' in your life.”
In the KonMari Method™, your feelings are the standard for decision making – specifically, knowing what sparks joy. To determine this when tidying, the key is to pick up each object one at a time, and ask yourself quietly, “Does this spark joy?” Pay attention to how your body responds.
Today Kondo – whose estimated worth is around US$8 million – and her husband Takumi Kawahara, who has a knack for networking and growing businesses from scratch, are seeking fresh ways to further elevate and expand their company KonMari.
“Shintoism, for me, is not particularly a religion in my life, but it is a natural habit in our daily life,” Kondo told a reddit user in 2015. “Shintoism, for Japanese people, is not the same religious feeling as a lot of American people might feel, but is pretty much blended into our daily lifestyle or habits.”
In Japan, these objects are called komono, or miscellaneous items, and it's common to struggle with keeping them organized. That's why Marie Kondo recommends designating a day to organize your komono in one go, give your objects final destinations and take back control.
She and her husband, Takumi Kawahara, president of KonMari Media, the company she founded, carefully plan their days to spend time with their children while still getting other tasks done.
These five things include dishes (abandoned coffee cups, snack bowls), trash (old tissues, junk mail, empty soda cans), and laundry—whether clean but unfolded, or dirty and strewn about. The last two categories are things that have a place and things that do not.
The best sequence is this: clothes first, then books, papers, miscellaneous items (komono) and, lastly, sentimental items and keepsakes. Effective tidying involves only two essential actions: discarding and deciding where to store things.
Initially, we were interested in doing the show in a scripted format and we were also approached to do it as a film, but we finally identified the most appropriate way for this journey to end. There were ups and downs, but we always thought that there was something very special in Marie and her message," Berman said.
Misconception #4: Marie Kondo wants me to talk to my things. A cornerstone of the KonMari Method® is gratitude. Having gratitude for our items and appreciation for how they serve us in our lives is essential to living a joy filled life.
Introduction: My name is Velia Krajcik, I am a handsome, clean, lucky, gleaming, magnificent, proud, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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