My Organizing Hero

I had been hearing rumblings about a mysterious professional organizer from Japan making serious waves here in the US for some time when my college roommate’s fiancé sent me the link to her book.  I was skeptical (books on organizing, while helpful, tend to be very dry and blend together), but I knew he’d ask me my opinion so I went ahead and ordered it.

You may have gathered that I’m talking about the famous Marie Kondo and her book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

As soon as I started reading, I felt incredibly validated and energized.  Without knowing it, and using slightly different terminology, I have based my organizing methods and philosophy around the same concept Kondo uses.  That is: to only have items in your home that you use and love.

And tidying is exactly the right word for it. Kondo reminds us again and again throughout the book that organizing isn’t about implementing systems and buying solutions, it’s about the actual stuff that you have and keeping it tidy in ways that work for you.

Kondo does get a little more earthy-crunchy than I do – you won’t see me genuflecting on your living room floor to thank your console table for all that it does for you, for example!  But there is an important kernel to be found in even the most wacky-sounding of her recommendations.

I strongly encourage anyone interested in getting organized to read her book.  And if you just don’t have the time, stay tuned – lots of people are talking about Marie Kondo, and I’ll be sharing some of their thoughts and experiences here!

LMW