You love makeover shows, finishing two whole seasons of Queer Eye in one weekend. Your favorite episode of ANTM is when the models get a glow-up makeover. Not to mention, you religiously watched Extreme Home Makeover and a bunch of videos in the same category on YouTube. This isn’t something you should be guilty about. If anything, we’re encouraging you to keep watching shows of the same genre. We know exactly how it feels to witness something go from ‘hopeless’ to ‘breathtaking’. But there’s a new makeover series that will give you maybe even better satisfaction than you already feel watching shows as such: Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.
“I love mess.” The show has its many firsts just like that quote from host Marie Kondo herself. Never have I heard someone say those words without being sarcastic. She jumps in excitement seeing clutter in people’s homes. There aren’t any gasps of awe in both disgust and judgment—just plain happy-to-see-it’s-super-messy kind of “wow”. That alone sets Marie Kondo’s show apart from others. While every show sees the mess as an opportunity for change, Marie Kondo does this in a way that will assure you won’t have a relapse.
Marie Kondo targets the psyche of her clients in every episode. She begins by going around the house, enjoying the mess, before kneeling at an optimal spot to introduce herself to her client’s dwelling. This alone makes her approach different from others. She doesn’t take the owner away from the house and do the makeover by herself, instead, Marie lets the owner do it themselves. She lets her client invest his own time in decluttering their spaces and this is probably the most effective way to do a makeover. By doing this, Marie instills discipline on the client, allowing them to adopt the principle throughout the process. And because Kondo’s method involves the client’s emotion, decluttering is only possible if the client does it himself. With the effort done by the client himself, it would be easier to maintain the decluttered space even after the show has passed.
Marie Kondo’s show offers more than just a change in any client’s lifestyle. While it may look dull knowing we won’t see a dramatic bulldozing of any part of the house, the show taps on the deeper meaning of what your belongings mean to you. Asking yourself if the item sparks joy as you hold it could be the beginning of the realization that maybe that little magazine stack isn’t really going to help you in the future. It’s time to let go of the things that don’t make you happy and you’ll realize how light and easy it could make you feel.
