Maybe you’ve picked up on the latest organizing “craze”? OK, it’s probably the only craze there has ever been about organizing. It’s so popular right now that I waited months for the book at the library. Yes, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo has a wait list at the library. Her followers have dubbed it the KonMari Method, and you can find tons of pictures, blog posts, Pinterest pins, and the like all about people’s experiences.

So what’s the big deal? Kondo endorses a method that encourages you to think deeply about every item in your home. By only keeping the things that “bring you joy” you will be moved to care for the items and put them in their places. Also, since you got rid of all of the stuff that doesn’t bring you joy, there should be a lot of empty space to put things, making it easy to keep your home tidy. She starts with the least emotionally charged stuff (clothing), and goes through to the hardest to part with (photos and mementos).

The idea is that you get used to purging items by the time it gets to the hard stuff. You enjoy being free of things that don’t bring you joy so much that you’re ready to get ruthless on those old trophies from rec league basketball.

There are some questionable ideas in there, ranging from “thanking” items–out loud–for their service, to emptying your purse nightly and storing it away in your closet. Honestly, I’m not sure which is crazier! But there are some good tips, as well. Starting with the things you care least about makes sense.

Another good suggestion is to collect every item in a category and sort it all at once. You never just reach in and pull things out that you want to toss–you get EVERYTHING out and then you choose what to keep. It’s a subtle difference, but it makes it just as easy to get rid of something as it is to keep it, because you have to put it back in its home.

There are a lot more details to the book, and I enjoyed the read, but I’ll never be able to truly KonMari my home. For one thing, she advocates not doing this to your family’s things (they should do it themselves–Ha!) I’d be willing to bet that my kids’ stuff makes up the greater part of the clutter in my house. Despite that, it was great to pick up some new tips going into the holiday season, when the house starts to feel like it’s going to burst.

Perhaps you are the next KonMari convert… Just don’t tell anyone if you start talking to your clothes.