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1. Marie Kondo is a tidying expert. She has written books about tidying that have sold millions, made a successful Netflix show called Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and she has a course on her website to help people with their tidying.
2. But there’s one more thing: Her own home is messy. That’s right, Kondo — who is Japanese but lives in California — has said she has “kind of given up,” on tidying her own house.
(1)Have you read any of Kondo’s books or watched her Netflix show?
(2)Who does most of the cleaning and tidying in your home?
3. Speaking during an online event using an interpreter, she said: “Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.” Kondo had her third child in 2021, so perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that her house doesn’t look like it did before — even if she is someone who made a career from tidying.
4. According to The Washington Post, she is okay with the mess because her focus is on more important things. Kondo’s method of tidying, called “KonMari,” has made her famous. According to her website, it “encourages tidying by category” and saying goodbye to things that don’t bring joy.
(1)Which of your friends or family has the tidiest home?
(2)What are your least favorite household chores?
5. In her most recent book, Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home, which was published in November 2022, she still talks about joy, but she gives advice to help people tidy their lives, not just their things.
6. It’s based on the Japanese idea of kurashi — meaning “way of life” — and Kondo asks people to think about how their perfect life would look, and about the choices they make every day. So this time, perhaps there’s no need to worry about those messy kitchen cupboards!
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