Can Marie Kondo fix the biggest mess of all? Us.
“Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” the new reality series from Japanese organizational queen, Marie Kondo, released on Netflix on New Year’s Day unsurprisingly went viral.
First things first, shout out to her marketing team for releasing on New Year’s day when people are all about resolutions and #NewYearNewMe.
That’s just smart planning right there.
It did not take even a full episode before I was up, pausing Netflix, and tidying my home. I made a ridiculous amount of trips to my local Goodwill.
Furniture was moved, trash was trashed, laundry was folded, and to my surprise, my entire weekend was gone.
Throughout the week I watched full episodes and pretty quickly noticed onr common trend from all the families that struggled to tame their homes.
Burnout.
I think there were the obvious reasons for the Mary Poppins of Organization to show up. Mental health issues, stress, and life changes (more children, downsizing homes, etc) were unsurprising causes for clutter and disarray to build up.
But the most common denominator was simply burnout.
It’s a point of pride in American culture to brag about how overworked and how tired you are. It’s our odd way of showing we’re valued members of society. Except modern society has officially outpaced our very human bodies and needs.
It’s time to challenge the system.
I honestly think Marie Kondo’s series went viral because we have a primal need to have a functional dwelling. Modern society is stressful enough and clutter simply adds to the stress.
And since we already spending most of our day doing “society approved tasks that prove our worth” we are too drained to even think about doing laundry.
Speaking of laundry, one particular family faced a bit of backlash due to a stay at home parent resorting to laundry service to help tame the beast.
Honestly, I was not surprised. Society has no empathy or sympathy for a Stay-at-Home parent outsourcing the least bit of housework. Which is particularly hilariously because this is how we got to a place of needing Marie Kondo to help us straighten out our lives.
We do too much.
Besides the amazing transformation of homes and the obviously happier families, I think another reason the KonMari method is taking off is because there is an emphasis on being present.
Technology means we never have to be disconnected from a steady stream of information and news. And unfortunately, I believe this also sits in the back of our mind as a source of stress. I think if we can be present in our homes and present in our current actions we’d make for a happier society.
The KonMari method is awesome and viewing episodes on Netflix are a great motivator. However, I think if Marie Kondo could figure out how to tackle us and our need to be present everywhere but home, she could change the world.
Photo by: Photograph Denise Crew / Netflix
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