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Locals find joy, or something akin to it, in ‘Tidying Up’

    On Jan. 1, Netflix released “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” and it took the world by storm. A somewhat smaller-scale phenomenon took place in 2014, when Kondo’s book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” was published in the United States.
    Of course, back then it required reading an entire book to get on board. Now it just means binge-watching eight episodes to keep up with the fad. Perhaps that’s why it’s grown such a large following in such a short amount of time.
    In the two months since the show came out, people have been purging their closets, junk drawers and bookshelves like crazy — and of course posting about it on social media. A quick search of #KonMari on Instagram reveals endless photos of perfectly curated closets and styled shelves.
    There are also plenty of photos out there from mid-process. Beds piled with clothes and tables barely able to hold heaping kitchen supplies are characteristic of how the tidying up is done. Kondo developed what is called the KonMari Method. Tidying is done by category, and there are five: clothes, books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items) and sentimental items.
    Going in order, each category should be addressed completely before moving on. Therefore, tidying clothing often means emptying all closets and drawers onto the bed and sorting through each item. The key to the KonMari method is that only items that spark joy should be kept. “Discard items that no longer spark joy. Thank them for their service — then let them go,” the KonMari website reads.
    With everything that doesn’t spark joy discarded, the remaining things can be put away, and Kondo has plenty of recommendations for folding, sorting and organizing, too.
    While Tidying Up sparked a craze around the world, one needn’t look far to see its effects. Even locally, people have been caught up in the KonMari Method. Amanda Parrish shared that seeing the show on Netflix reminded her that she’d actually ordered Kondo’s book five years ago. The new show, however, gave her a push to tackle some tidying needs in her home today.
    With three young kids in the house, Parrish and her husband can struggle with organization. Being sentimental about “silly things” also tends to get in the way of her tidying efforts. By using Kondo’s method, she hoped to get some new ideas.
    Briar and Lauren Bergner and their mom, Gloria, were also recently inspired by the show after seeing the hype on Facebook. For them, there were parts of the process that worked well and parts that weren’t for them. In regard to cleaning out closets, Briar said, “We got to the point where nothing we found gave us joy, so we got rid of tons of stuff.” Telling old clothes “thank you” wasn’t as big a deal for them.
    “We kind of suck at the Marie Kondo life,” Briar added, “but it was nice to clean, which was inspired by her.”
    The effects of the Tidying Up craze have also been seen in many secondhand stores. Vicki Fuesz of Retread Threads in Haxtun said that they’d been warned that thrift stores should be aware of a potential influx of donated items.
    In their particular case, however, employees and volunteers at Retread Threads haven’t seen a noticeable uptick in donations, which were admittedly large to start out with.

Clothes
    In the fast fashion world we live in, it’s easy for closets and dresser drawers to fill up quickly, especially when growing kids are part of the equation. Parrish recently tackled the first KonMari category herself and ended up with nine bags full of clothes to get rid of. Going through the clothes her kids have outgrown is something she does regularly anyway, but Kondo’s show inspired Parrish to go through her and her husband’s wardrobe as well.
    In terms of both shopping and donating, Fuesz said that the people of Holyoke, despite living 20 miles away, have been huge supporters of Retread Threads. A huge part of that comes in the form of donated clothing, especially things kids have outgrown.
    Local note: Though the nearest place to donate gently used clothing is Retread Threads, the Methodist church in Holyoke takes shoe donations.
    
Books
    Following Kondo’s process, the next area to tidy is books. There are different reasons books may have accumulated in a home. Maybe they’re old textbooks or reading requirements from high school or college. Perhaps they’re left over from a child’s previous stages, much like outgrown clothing.
    Whatever the cause for overcrowded shelves, people everywhere are taking a long, hard look at their collections and purging the books that don’t bring them joy.
    Local note: Friends of the Library takes book donations year-round for their annual Book Bonanza fundraiser. Books can be taken to Heginbotham Library during business hours, but declutterers should note that magazines, medical/diet books over five years old and VHS tapes are not accepted.
    
Papers
    Kondo’s third tidying category is paper. While most of a household’s paper may be confined to an office or some other central location, there are likely papers throughout the house. This is the stage in which people should gather old school assignments from bedrooms, art projects from play rooms, invitations hanging on the fridge, mail left on the coffee table and whatever other papers they can find.
    As with the preceding categories, people are encouraged to go through each paper, keeping only what is necessary. Once all else is discarded, those papers that remain can be organized.
    Local note: Paper can be recycled in the large blue container outside the City of Holyoke office. Newspapers and magazines can be thrown in directly, but white office paper must be bagged separately. Shredded documents can also be bagged and placed in the bin. Uncoated paperboard and chipboard can be thrown in directly.
    
Komono (miscellaneous items)
    Komono is a vast category that includes all the other miscellaneous things around the house. A big part of it for many is the kitchen. It may also include kids toys, athletic supplies, tools, hobby supplies, decorations. Every family is different.
    At the Bergner home, giving away unwanted items is done often to keep all the miscellaneous things in check. “My mom and I can’t stand clutter or useless random things laying around,” Briar said.
    Local note: Many thrift stores, like Retread Threads, also accept housewares. When there isn’t a good option for donating unwanted items, people may turn to garage sales, classified ads in the newspaper or Facebook sale groups to sell or give things away.
    
Sentimental items
    As declutterers go through each category, they may come across sentimental items — a wedding dress, a favorite book, a letter from an old friend, a cherished gift. Kondo encourages setting aside all the sentimental items to be addressed in the final tidying category.
    It may be the most difficult category to face, but the experience of going through each of the other four is like practice, making people more in tune with what sparks joy and what should be let go.
    One of the bonuses of going through the sentimental items is a chance to appreciate the things that are often put away for safekeeping. With other areas freshly organized, there may even be new opportunities to put those sentimental items to use or on display.
    Whatever areas one is inspired to go through and organize, there’s an advantage to letting go of things that aren’t needed and no longer spark joy. As Parrish said, “It makes me feel way better when I keep things tidy.”
    Local note: Those in the process of tidying up should keep an eye out for other ways to get rid of things locally in addition to those already mentioned. Maybe there’s a coat drive coming up or an elementary class looking for magazines for a school project. You never know when a high school or community play may be looking for props. Something that doesn’t spark joy isn’t necessarily destined for the landfill.

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