{"id":69609,"date":"2016-01-27T07:11:49","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T12:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=69609"},"modified":"2025-01-19T10:22:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T15:22:00","slug":"kondo-is-back-with-more-tidying-advice-in-spark-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/01\/27\/kondo-is-back-with-more-tidying-advice-in-spark-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Kondo is back with more tidying advice in ‘Spark Joy’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kondo's<\/a>
Kondo’s newest book, Spark Joy
(Photo from Tidying Up website<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Author of the international bestseller \u201cThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up\u201d (Ten Speed Press, 2014), Kondo became famous for advising readers how to transform their lives by sifting through their belongings one by one, embracing those that \u201cspark joy\u201d and bidding a fond but hasty farewell to the rest.<\/p>\n

Her new book, \u201cSpark Joy: an Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up\u201d (Ten Speed), provides illustrations and more detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I published my first book, a lot of readers came with a lot of questions,\u201d the petite, soft-spoken Kondo told The Associated Press, in Japanese, after a presentation to a packed auditorium at the Japan Society in New York.<\/p>\n

Kondo is still communing lovingly with socks and blouses, folding clothes like origami and bowing in gratitude to her home. She also has a fresh perspective as a new mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter is only 6 months old, so my method hasn’t changed … She cannot make a mess yet. What has surprised me most is the amount of stuff a baby needs,\u201d Kondo said, sitting primly at the edge of her seat in an impeccable white top over a pale blue print dress.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce she gets older, I’m sure there will be a little bit of adjustment.\u201d<\/p>\n

With an understated sense of humour, she notes in her new book that one of the people with whom she has had to share her storage methods is her new husband, himself so minimalist that he moved in with only four cardboard boxes of belongings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am learning that unspoken family rules differ from one household to another, and that storage methods I had assumed were obvious need to be properly shared and explained,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n

buy oseltamivir online https:\/\/lapbandla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/oseltamivir.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Kondo’s earlier book had no illustrations; \u201cSpark Joy\u201d is full of her charming, child-like drawings of everything from organized kitchen cupboards, to folding techniques for clothes ranging from underwear to frilly blouses to hoodies.<\/p>\n

buy zocor online https:\/\/www.northwestphysicians.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/zocor.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very important that you know how to fold clothes in the correct way,\u201d she informed the crowd at the Japan Society, before daintily approaching a demonstration table where a small pile of unfolded clothing awaited. For one thing, \u201cmake sure you put a lot of love through your palms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The audience\u2014die-hard fans and those new to her KonMari Method\u2014applauded as Kondo quickly folded one item after another into a tiny cube, balanced each on edge to show how tightly wound it was, then tucked them neatly into what resembled a lidless shoe box.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, that’s so cool. How did she do that?\u201d a man in the second row whispered to his neighbour.<\/p>\n

buy aurogra online https:\/\/lapbandla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/aurogra.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Kondo suggests setting the boxes of origami-esque parcels in drawers so that each is a joy-provoking bento of delights.<\/p>\n

What about those pesky possessions that fail to spark joy yet are undeniably useful? Well, functionality can be beautiful too.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter discarding a hammer because the handle was worn out, I used my frying pan to pound in any nails,\u201d Kondo writes. But after she threw out a screwdriver, \u201cI tried using a ruler to tighten a loose screw, but it snapped down the middle. This almost reduced me to tears as it was one I really liked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these incidents stemmed from youthful inexperience and thoughtlessness,\u201d she continues. Things that make life simpler, \u201cthe recognition that a possession is useful in our lives\u2014these, too, indicate joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpark Joy\u201d includes advice on moving, packing and decorating with tiny, cheerful knickknacks (this is smile-inducing minimalism).<\/p>\n

She even gives a nod to those who don’t thrill to tidying up. Kondo admitted to her New York audience that she regrets some of her earlier zeal in discarding her family’s belongings.<\/p>\n

Or, as she says in the new book, \u201cOnly when we accept unconditionally people whose values differ from our own can we really say that we have finished tidying.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, her tidying empire is gaining ground. Kondo’s books have been translated into numerous languages, her speaking engagements draw crowds and her waitlist for clients is over three months long.<\/p>\n

She recently published a blank journal, \u201cLife-Changing Magic\u201d (Ten Speed), to help readers \u201cspark joy every day\u201d; she runs the Japan Joy-Sparking Tidying-Up Association (with two levels of membership fees); and she offers courses in Japan in tidying up and becoming a tidying consultant.<\/p>\n

In the United States, Kondo told the AP, she has an app coming out this spring that \u201cfeatures a checklist of tidying, and also shows your progress in tidying.\u201d And she is preparing to open a U.S. branch of her consultancy.<\/p>\n

While she may have mellowed in some respects, her goals are in no way diminished. Proper tidying up, she happily announced to the rapt audience, brings not only life-changing magic but a sense of joy that can spread from household to household, country to country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe my method will lead to world peace in the end,\u201d she said, smiling sweetly.<\/p>\n

Or at least a lot of astoundingly well-folded socks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author of the international bestseller \u201cThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up\u201d (Ten Speed Press, 2014), Kondo became famous for advising …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":69610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-69609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","tag-original","mauthors-katherine-roth","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285775,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69609\/revisions\/285775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}