The Magic Of Keeping Everything In Order

People often say that keeping everything in order is the joy of reason, and disorder the joy of imagination. For the Japanese, the art of organizing a room can also force you to reflect deeply on your possessions and emphasize the need to keep only what excites you, what is really useful to you, what really makes you happy.

If there is anyone who has achieved great success in recent years by teaching people how to organize their rooms and closets, it is Marie Kondo. With the successful book Magic Cleanup , this Japanese woman has already been included in  the Times list of the 100 most important people in the world, where she even rivals Haruki Murakami, one of her countrymen, in sales.

There is something hypnotic about the Konmari method that this best-selling guru describes. It’s simple, drastic, it starts with the smallest things and ends with the largest, and it reminds us that objects also have a “soul”, and that you have to talk to them and thank them for their services before you solemnly say goodbye if you are going to get rid of them.

To a western person, this may seem strange and silly. Most people collect so many things, souvenirs, clothes, books and papers that if we did this ritual for everything, we would have to spend our whole lives organizing the house. But no matter how strange this perspective may seem, it has captured the whole world, and has somehow helped people to

The magic of keeping everything in order and the excitement of disorder

We all know that tidy environments radiate calm, discipline and integrity. It is as if organized environments invite us to behave in a more balanced way. But here’s the strange thing: According to a study from the University of Minnesota, disorganized and highly decorated work environments evoke creativity in almost 70% of workers.

It is almost as  if the disorder invites renewal and encourages you to break with the establishment, to seek out new stimuli and challenges. So does it also mean that the Japanese perspective is wrong, that the tidiness Marie Kondo is trying to sell us, only evokes obedience, austerity and inflexibility? Not at all –

The Konmari method invites us to improve our lives through the “renovation” of our nearest, most famous contexts. Therefore, it is much more than organizing a room or a closet – it purifies your reality so that you can find inner balance. It is an intimate ceremony that activates your emotions and goes a step further than “catacus” (to clean and organize in Japanese) and reaches a spiritual level.

The key to the Konmari method

Some people have a natural and almost compulsive tendency to keep everything in order, and others towards chaos. But the magic part of this strategy is in the space, where both forces are balanced, where we can find ourselves and feel comfortable without going to the extreme. Therefore , it is ideal to adapt the Konmari method to your own needs.

For example, it is clear that instead of talking to objects and seeing them as beings with souls, it will make more sense to communicate with yourself. “I let go of this diary because it was very useful and cleansing at a time when I was in a bad place, but now my reality is different. I feel better, I have moved on in life, and now I can get rid of it. ”

Below we describe some of Marie Kondo’s main proposals to reflect on:

• Get rid of things. Stop being so dependent on material things.
• Keep only what gives you joy.
• Organize by category instead of area. Do not limit yourself to organizing a specific room. Instead, start with all your clothes, then all your books, then all the papers and documents, etc.

• If possible, do everything at once.
• Treat objects with respect and say goodbye to them.
• Empty shoeboxes are not very useful – get rid of them.
• Organize alone. See this exercise as a private activity.
• If you are struggling to get rid of something, ask yourself if it is very helpful for you right now and you will get the answer.

To conclude, for Marie Kondo, the idea behind order is utility, the positive feeling the object gives you, and the need to create external harmony that is synchronized with your inner world. A house is not just a place where things are stored, it is a place where balance and happiness reside.