Marie Kondo is the star of two Netflix reality shows – 2019's Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and 2021's Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo, shown here. – Photo: Netflix
For years, Marie Kondo has been teaching us how to keep our homes tidy and only keep things that 'spark joy'. Well, now that Kondo has three children, she has found something else that sparks joy in her life, and has 'kind of given up' on having a tidy house as a result.
During a recent webinar with The Washington Post to promote her new book Marie Kondo's Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life – yes, that's the full title – the 38-year-old lifestyle guru admitted that she has 'kind of given up' on keeping her home tidy at all times, and instead realised that the most important thing in her life right now is spending time with her children at home.
Kondo has three children with husband Takumi Kawahara – daughters Satsuki and Miko, and a son, who was born in 2021.
“My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life," she said in the webinar.
"Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times. I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”
That doesn't mean she has totally given up on her ideals of the Japanese "way of life", or kurashi. It just means that instead of tidying her home, she has turned her focus to 'tidying' up her life. As she says in her book, “Tidying up means dealing with all the ‘things’ in your life. So, what do you really want to put in order?”.
Kondo is best-known for her 'KonMari' method of organising and decluttering, in which one only keeps things that 'spark joy' in yourself. She has published four best-selling books, and is the star of two Netflix reality shows – 2019's Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and 2021's Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo.
