Who knew organizing your home could be so much fun? Today we\u2019re going to learn to find joy in all our possessions from Japanese organizing sensation Marie Kondo<\/p>\n
She\u2019s the author of an international bestselling book; she has her own Netflix series; and she was even spotted at the Oscars this year. I\u2019m talking about Marie Kondo, the Japanese organizing consultant who is teaching the world to find pleasure in our possessions, and discard anything that doesn\u2019t spark joy.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s a character, and I\u2019ll be sharing a little more about her on today\u2019s episode. Welcome back to Plain English! I\u2019m Jeff; JR is the producer; and you are listening to the best podcast for practicing English. That\u2019s because we go at a bit slower speed, so you can understand every word.<\/p>\n
Today is episode 136, so you can read the transcript as you listen to the show. The URL is PlainEnglish.com\/136. And like always, we have interactive translations of the hardest words and phrases from English to Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, and French.<\/p>\n
By the way, I heard from Malgorzata from Poland and she reminded me that I need to provide an update to all of you regarding my New Year\u2019s resolutions. So, you\u2019ll recall from Episode 117 that one of my resolutions was to minimize screen time after 11:00 p.m. and I think I\u2019m doing pretty well on that one. Unfortunately, with my travel schedule, I sometimes don\u2019t get to my hotel until after 11, and there have been some times that I\u2019ve been working pretty late, but other than those, I have really cut down on the screen time and I\u2019ve been much more conscientious about getting enough sleep, so that one\u2019s pretty good. I did have a resolution about Spanish, but I haven\u2019t been keeping up with that one quite as much. I\u2019m doing pretty well on some of the smaller ones. I\u2019ve been liking the app I use to track these habits. The app is called Strides, in case you\u2019re curious. Malgorzata has been using that one too.<\/p>\n
Marie Kondo has a sweet smile, an infectious laugh, and a knack for decluttering and organizing homes. And she is taking the world by storm, with a bestselling book, a new Netflix series, and media appearances galore. Who knew that tidying up would be so popular?<\/p>\n
Marie\u2019s first book\u2014\u201cThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up\u201d\u2014introduced the concept of gathering all your belongings, going through them one by one, and then keeping only those things that spark joy in your life. By cleaning and organizing your possessions, and keeping only those that really make you happy, you\u2019ll be happier and your life will have less stress.<\/p>\n
Is it really true? Let\u2019s take a deeper dive into Marie\u2019s philosophy and then maybe you can try it out for yourself over the next few weeks, and see if it makes a difference. First, a little bit of background. Marie says she has been interested in organizing and tidying up since childhood, but one day she had a nervous breakdown, worrying about all the stuff she was throwing away. She says she was unconscious for two hours, and when she woke up, a voice spoke to her, saying that she should look at her things more closely. And that\u2019s when she realized that instead of looking for things to throw away, she should look at the things she wants to keep. According to Marie, the real work of tidying up is to identify the things that make you happy.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s what she recommends you do. Instead of going room by room, and instead of looking for things that you want to discard, you should go by category of possession. With her method, you start with your clothes, then go to books, then miscellaneous items\u2014that would be almost everything else\u2014and finally sentimental items. You should take all your possessions category by category, and go through them one by one. Ask yourself, one by one, piece by piece, if it gives you joy. She says you should think about the feeling you get when you hold a puppy; that\u2019s what it means to spark joy.<\/p>\n
And she tells you to pick everything up, one by one, item by item. Hold it. Think about it. And if the piece doesn\u2019t give you joy anymore, just say thank you to that that thing for its service, and then discard it. I can\u2019t say this with a straight face\u2014it\u2019s really funny when you watch her on Netflix, this very thoughtful, Zen-like Japanese lady telling American families to hold every piece of clothing, and thank it for its service before discarding it.<\/p>\n
So by now you might have realized that Marie has some, say, idiosyncrasies. Little things about her and her methods that are unique. First of all, when she starts working with a family on their home, she asks everyone to pause for a bit and thank the house for its service. They kneel down in a central place in the house and take a moment of silence to thank the house for all that it gives to the family.<\/p>\n
She also has a very unique way of folding individual items of clothing. She wants you to fold clothes so you can stand them up in your drawers. That way, when you open your drawers, you can see all your clothes standing up. According to her philosophy, if you just stack your clothes in your dressers, like I do, then you forget about the things down at the bottom. So you should fold your clothes, and organize your drawers, so that you can see everything that you have.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s similar to other advice she gives. When you store items, Marie recommends you use decorative boxes for things that are valuable, and clear plastic containers for the more everyday things. By using clear containers, you can always see what you have.<\/p>\n
I recommend you take a look at her Netflix show; she\u2019s quite a character. The clothes are usually the hardest for people to work through on the show. She tells people to take every piece of clothing they own, and make a huge pile. Then go piece by piece through the KonMari method. Usually people\u2019s homes get messier before they get better.<\/p>\n
But in all seriousness, the purpose of this is to recognize the value in the things we have, and by doing that to be able to live more comfortably and happier. And since I watched the show, I\u2019ve definitely noticed in my own life that the accumulation of stuff is actually stressful. I have things in my apartment that I don\u2019t want. I\u2019m just afraid to get rid of them\u2014I either feel guilty because they were gifts, or I feel this anxiety that maybe\u2014maybe\u2014some day in the future I might need them. So I keep all this stuff around that doesn\u2019t give me any pleasure and any joy.<\/p>\n
So I did a little experiment right here in my office here at home. I went through all the office supplies and asked myself, \u201cis this giving me joy?\u201d A sunglasses case for glasses that I lost years ago; my iPod mini from like 2009; a little commemorative coin I was given at work. No, no, no. But I felt bad discarding it, so I just kept the stuff. There\u2019s a quote from the show that I really like. Instead of asking yourself, when you look at something in your house, instead of asking, \u201cShould I keep this or throw it away?\u201d Marie recommends asking, \u201cDo I want to bring this into my future?\u201d And if the answer is no, if you don\u2019t want to consciously bring something into your future, then just don\u2019t. Don\u2019t bring it into your future, and just get rid of it.<\/p>\n
I have to confess that this small experiment at my desk was eye-opening for me. And then I started to think, what if I did this with my clothes? I took a look in my closet and realized I have a lot of things that don\u2019t give me joy. I have a lot of things that I don\u2019t want to bring into my future. So I think I\u2019ll have to dedicate a full day or two in the spring to organize my closets with the KonMari method.<\/p>\n
I think you should watch the show. She\u2019ll make you laugh\u2014she\u2019s funny. It\u2019s a good show, and I might look for her book too, \u201cThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few episodes ago, I mentioned that we had a listener, Wallace I think his name was, and he listens with his boss, and I thought that was great that people listened with their coworkers in the office. Well. On Sunday, I got a WhatsApp from Lucio in Mexico. He works with 62 creative professionals who deliver mobile applications for their IT clients in the United States\u2014and this team is using Plain English to improve their English. All I can say is\u2014wow. I just love it. Thank you Lucio and a big warm welcome to everyone on Lucio\u2019s mobility team in Monterrey, Mexico.<\/p>\n
A number of listeners have been signing up for MosaLingua. That\u2019s just another way you can study, keep practicing your vocabulary, learning new words, and being an active learner. They have great apps and programs, including a course called MosaSpeak, where you can work on your accent and fluency and pronunciation. A lot of great resources are available all for you at PlainEnglish.com\/learn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Who knew organizing your home could be this much fun? Marie Kondo is bestselling author and has her own Netflix show; the Japanese organizing consultant was even spotted at the Oscars this year. Her message is simple: you should organize your possessions by category and only keep the things that spark joy in your life. If you don’t want to take something into your future, you should thank that object and discard it. Plus, learn the English phrase, “have a knack for.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"lesson_category":[627],"lesson_number":[317],"terminology_tag":[],"content_tag":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n