The Method

I love the Konmari method.  No, I’ve never read the book.  I’ve also not gone through the method as she recommends.  I had already gone through a lot of it before I heard of her.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t love the results.  In fact, I just browse before and after photos of Konmari converts for fun.

Occasionally, I start to twitch.  I run across an article on, “How Konmari changed my closet,” but the only thing different is the folding style.

At its heart, Konmari is all about only keeping the few things that cause a real, emotional jolt of joy.  The misconception that Konmari is about how you fold your clothes is like saying Niagara Falls is a waterslide for people in barrels:  Totally missing it.

Marie Kondo has spent decades experimenting with tidying.  Literally decades.  This woman is not just a writer of some cute way to fold your undies.  She is a specialist.  She’s the Einstein of cleaning out clutter.  It took Einstein seven years to develop the theory of relativity.  So, in that respect, she’s more of an Einstein than Einstein is.

Mary Sue and Johnny look at her method, fold their clothes for once instead of throwing them into the closet, and go, “I did Konmari!”

Sigh.

Do it right or don’t call it the method.  Just don’t pretend you’re following someone’s process and try to do it your own way.  It ain’t the same thing.

I am not saying you shouldn’t celebrate making a positive change.  Fold your clothes for the first time?  Awesome!  I’m proud of you.  Saved up a bunch of money while paying on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, that’s pretty impressive.  It’s okay to celebrate those things.

Look here, people.  Methods like Konmari, The 7 Baby Steps, and The 100 Thing Challenge are developed over a long period of time.  Their progenitors who share their knowledge with you are not encouraging you to half-ass your life.  They have seen remarkable results through making remarkable change, and the way they did it is by following specific steps in a specific order.  Doing the baby steps backwards or folding your clothes aren’t going to result in the same outcome.  Likely, they won’t have any result at all.