“My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life…”
Maria Kondo’s tidiness empire started when she released her first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which dove into Marie’s ‘KonMari’ cleaning method, leading thousands of readers to declutter their homes by throwing out items that don’t ‘spark joy’.
Subsequently, Kondo released a Netflix special called Tidying Up based on the same premise, which influenced thousands more to adopt the KonMari cleaning method.
In her most recent book, Kurashi at Home: How to Organise Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life, Kondo takes a different – dare we say, more ‘evolved’ approach towards keeping a tidy home.
When you’re a busy mom of three, you start to realise that keeping a pristine pantry or perfectly packed cupboard is lower on your list of priorities than looking after and spending time with your kids.
In her latest book, Marie shares that she has been focusing more on little daily activities that spark joy, instead of decluttering to spark joy.
Things like lounging in silk pyjamas because they’re luxe, having tea rituals to provoke a sense of calm, and revisiting items from her younger years all spark warm connections and memories.
This way of life which Marie has recently adopted and shared with readers in her latest book is called Kurashi. In an article on KonMari, she shares the following:
“Kurashi roughly translates to ‘way of life’ or ‘the ideal way of spending our time,’ but like many words lost in translation, it means much more than that.”
She goes on to explain that when we cherish something precious to us, we strengthen our connection to the deeper things in life, bringing out the best in ourselves and what we cherish.
“I believe that when we consciously cherish something precious, we deepen our relationship with it…This, in turn, deepens our bonds with other things in our lives, bringing out the best in them and in ourselves.”
If KonMari’s decluttering is too big a step, perhaps her latest (more realistic) approach by identifying the little activities which spark joy for you. Not everyone, especially a busy mom, can keep her home tidy all the time. We wear too many hats to always be sorting them!
Read the original story on Woman and Home.
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