Decluttering expert Marie Kondo has launched an online store where people can buy homeware and self-care products. Yes, this is the same Marie Kondo who motivated millions to dump their defunct wardrobe and silverfish ridden books on the streets. Who goaded us into looking at each object in the household; the lumpy cushion beneath your tush, the chipped mug in your kitchen or the mismatched pair of earring by your bed stand, who lost their partners in the previous millennial but still managed to ditch the dustbin, and ask ourselves if these things “sparked joy”. You are not alone if you embraced the KonMari method of ridding your life of that extra-baggage, emotional or otherwise, and are now feeling duped. How could she? How dare she? But then just hear out Kondo’s logic behind selling tote bags, tuning forks, cheese knives and ceramics.
SOME TAKEAWAYS:
- Tidying up expert Marie Kondo has launched her range of self-care and homeware products.
- After decluttering the consumers' homes Kondo is ready to restock them.
- Perhaps this is the very reason why every individual should declutter their personal space based on their own rationale.
- Isn't there more to keeping and discarding your possessions than their "joy" quotient?
If there is an award for a genius ploy to literally create a space for your merchandise in customers’ cupboards, kindly hand it over to Kondo.
According to BBC, in a letter posted on her website Kondo has explained that her method is all about heightening “your sensitivity to what brings you joy,” and not just “getting rid of things”. She further adds, “Once you've completed your tidying, there is room to welcome meaningful objects, people and experiences into your life.” I am not sure how serving forks that she is selling fit in the scheme of things, but if there is an award for a genius ploy to literally create a space for your merchandise in customers’ cupboards, kindly hand it over to Kondo.
ALSO READ: Marie Kondo Advocates Having Less Than 30 Books, So What?
It is nothing but a masterstroke to convince people that their possessions do not bring them joy and thus they need to be bid adieu and replaced by “joy sparking” products one is selling. But then frankly, if you are giving someone else the agency to determine what needs to stay in your home and whatnot, then you asked for it. Adulting is difficult, but it seriously cannot be so difficult that you need a manual to organise your office desk and almira. Does a shirt that I barely wore thrice before finally admitting it to myself that it was a size too tight, spark joy in my life? Nope. But hell I’ll keep it, because it cost me a lot. I’ll let it marinate in the aroma of mothballs in a hope that one day I’ll lose a couple (read a lot) of pounds and fit in to it. Or perhaps my daughter will eventually grow into it.
Hoarding isn’t always good, but then it is not always bad. Decluttering may give you a pristine home, but is that what a home is all about? Are cupboards only meant to store clothes that have a "joy" quotient?
What I mean to say, there are a million reasons why we hold on to things. It is not always about “sparking joy,” sometimes they may even spark sadness, like the wrapper of chocolate your ex gave to you, or a broken windchime gifted to you by a friend with whom you are no longer on speaking terms. Hoarding isn’t always good, but then it is not always bad. Decluttering may give you a pristine home, but is that what a home is all about? Are cupboards only meant to store clothes that have a “joy” quotient?
The thing is, we hate empty spaces. Human overpopulation is the living proof of that. Sooner or later most of us develop the urge to fill an empty rack with a new showpiece or pile on more clothes into the de-cluttered cupboard. Should one not bother to clean up at all then? Of course, you should, but the agency of what goes and what stays in your space should be guided by your own rationale, no matter how bizarre it sounds to others. As long as it makes sense to you do not need commercialised decluttering to create happy spaces in your life.
Image Credit: Netflix
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Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are the author’s own.
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