Sparking Joy On Television

Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying-Up,” published in English in 2014, captured the attention of U.S. cultural enthusiasts and skeptics alike; the ideas behind the book filtered into the collective consciousness even for those who hadn’t read it. Netflix’s new special, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” has revitalized this intrigue, quickly becoming a show people watch for not only the vicarious catharsis of watching others organize their homes, but for inspiration to do it themselves.

The basic tenets of the KonMari method, as Kondo calls her process, involve taking stock of everything you own, getting rid of anything you don’t need — after thanking it for the role it has played in your life— and then organizing the rest of it. What makes this any different from spring cleaning? You are only supposed to keep what “sparks joy.” This should, hypothetically, declutter your life, and subsequently bring order to your mind, home and  relationships. 

In every episode of the show, Kondo visits a couple or a family that has decided they want to take on this task, and walks them through it. She meets them, hears what they want to change with the help of her interpreter, greets the space (usually through a moment of silence) and then helps them begin. She has all of her clients pile every piece of their clothing into one lump, in order to shock them into seeing how much they truly have, and how much they can pare down. After clothes comes books and paper documents, miscellaneous rooms, and then sentimental items. For the latter, she recommends investing in several clear boxes.

All of the families in the show are struggling with something more than simple untidiness. One couple feels overwhelmed with work and childcare, and worries that their lack of a plan for housework leads to bickering. Another couple has moved into a much smaller apartment than the home they were used to, and are having trouble negotiating space with their two kids. A third woman is dealing with the recent death of her husband. With everyone, Kondo finds out what is most important to them and helps them articulate it.

While the concept may seem to open itself up to ridicule from skeptics, everyone  Kondo helps seems genuinely relieved by the end of the process. As in the recently rebooted and wildly popular “Queer Eye,” there are dramatic before-and-after shots of everything that gets redone; a feel-good moment for all involved. A few critics have pointed out that this kind of deep overhaul of a life’s worth of accumulated stuff is much easier if (1) you have a lot of stuff and (2) you know you can replace anything you get rid of without worrying about the financial strain; in other words, the more materialistic aspects of this process seem to work best for middle- class couples with kids. But “Tidying Up,” in the end, is less about an aesthetic embrace of minimalism than an exercise in gratitude and simplicity. All jokes about vicarious organizational joy aside, the show itself sparks joy.