Konmari'd - Life changing Magic of Tidying up 02

Tidying up your house brings magic to your life, it has even become religious, owing to Marie Kondo!

In the entry of December 2016, I wrote about the Japanese decluttering consultant and specialist Marie Kondo.

https://barefootphilolo.blogspot.com/2016/12/konmaringlife-changing-magic-of-tidying.html

Her book translated into English and other languages were skyrocket hit and put her into the global spotlight. The organizational guru presently based in the States became even more cultural phenomenon these days owing to her Netflix shows of home makeovers. (And recently she has been accused and attacked on media by bibliophiles who were offended personally when Marie Kondo said the ideal number of books to keep is 30.)

https://konmari.com/

As in the same line with the book, her website and show upgrade "the magic" of KonMari method targeting the  non-Japanese audience - KonMari sits on the floor and solemnly greets the house like a ritual when she is to embark on the client's home makeover, there are pictures of her lovingly touching boxes as to show how she appreciates all the things whether be kept or thrown away, the show narrates that she has been inspired by the philosophy of Shintoism and has applied it to her method. Marie Kondo's lovely Asian looks also adds mysterious Oriental taste that interest Western people.

KonMari method is not just magic, now it is near religion -  and Americans love it.

To show how widespread it is, the word KonMari, or her method has been mentioned in popular comedy drama lines. Emily Gilmore in "Gilmore Girls : A Year in the Life" rummages through the piles of her belongings aiming to declutter her life, tells her daughter if she knows Marie Kondo, the Japanese woman.

"Does this bring joy?"
(Feels the dress near her heart.)
"Nope"
(Chucks it away.)



I have seen new kinds of hashtags on social medias since the last entry.

#KonMaried
#Konmari'd
#Konverts

Past tenses were not so popular before, but now there are people showing off the result of the makeover of their shelf or wardrobe or desk on Instagram hashtagged #KonMaried / #Konmari'd.

I also saw a title of an article "The husband was KonMaried..."  Used in a passive (also in a negative nuance though)! This coined word is making a steady growth!

And #Konverts!
It denotes people who are so influenced and devoted to KonMari method.
Now this is really getting religious.

konmaring Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up

Japanese people make a great fuss about the big cleaning up at the end of the year. Not just cleaning up but people would go through their wardrobes, cupboards and bookshelves and dump things that they would not use anymore.

For some people, carrying out the cleaning in efficient steps and making decision on what to dispose or keep are rather difficult, so in Japan, there are many how-to books on cleaning up and decluttering.

Marie Kondo wrote a how-to book on decluttering and organizing, and it has become a big hit not just in Japan but overseas too. The style of her cleaning is named "Konmari method". Konmari is her name Kondo Marie shortened.

There even is a verb generated from this "Konmari", "konmaring". On twitter, there is a hashtag "#konmaring", "#konmari", and some with pictures are showing how they are trying to organize things at home they have accumulated over many years. There even was a post talking of "konmaring" their life or their twitter account. So the verb does not just refer to cleaning up the house.

Hashtags clearly show how big a hit her method is.

How come her method became such a hit?
The secret is in the title and the magic spell which is constantly repeated in the book.

"The life-changing magic of tidying up. The Japanese art of decluttering and organizing"

It is not just your ordinary how-to book, the book tells you that tidying up is MAGIC! It is a book of magic. And it is a magic that can change your life! Cleaning the house is not a job that most people enjoy or do it for hobby, but if it is a magic that can change your life, now, that is exciting!

The title also tells you this method is a Japanese art. To a non-Japanese reader, it would give the impression of Zen or oriental philosophy. The cleaning is purification. The slight guilt that comes from being manipulated in commercialism and materialism can be written off with this magic method.

However, this Japanese art does not tell you to throw away everything and live in modesty. Repeatedly, the book chants the magic spell,

"Does it spark joy?"

The book tells you to keep the things that sparks joy to you, and throw away the things that does not. Presents from your ex-boyfriend, jumpers and scarfs that you got on Christmas or birthday that are not quite your taste, skirt that you want to wear when you succeed in working out at the gym...etc. They do not spark joy so you should throw them away. You only keep the things that make you happy. Cast off the shackles, freedom from material means freedom of your mind.

It does seem like magic.

Yes, her book is magic - contracting her name and making it the verb to refer to the method, the selection of the words in the title, casting magic spell repeatedly in the book.

'Why can't we say "I amn't" ?' ― a love story...

'Why can't we say "I amn't"?'

This was a question some of my students often gave me after a class on contraction rules.

I am not ready.　→　I'm not ready.
You are not ready.　→　You're not ready.
He is not ready. 　→　He's not ready.

Pretty straightforward. The students catch the rule quickly. But then, I show them there are alternatives:

You aren't ready.
He isn't ready.

So from the analogy of the previous rule, some students put down in their workbooks "I amn't", and as I write this, my PC reminds me that this contraction is wrong by putting a red squiggly underline on the word, and I also do the same for my students' workbooks if it is written there. And here, the students give me that question.

The contraction "I amn't" is considered incorrect in standard English (it is acceptable in some English dialects), and you could just say to your students, "that's the rule". However, I wanted to give my students a reasonable explanation to this exception so that they will remember well. From my wild wild imagination, I came up with this explanation.


There is energy like love, hate or jealousy between words. Some words are attracted to each other and want to stay together, and also there are some words that just cannot stand sitting side by side, and that kind of combination is usually considered as "ungrammatical".

Now, as for "is" and  "are", they are "smooth guys"― you know those guys who are at all kinds of parties in town and seem to know every person and are friends with them? They are friendly with nouns, pronouns, noun phrases and clauses, and also with the negative "not". These "smooth guys" casually stick together with their friends and make contracted forms.

However, "am" is a "serious guy". It doesn't party, doesn't go out a lot. The only one it hangs around with is its soul mate "I". 

For "am", "I" is the soul mate. (For "I", unfortunately, "am" is a very close friend) 

They have very strong bond. "Am" is at ease when it is with "I", so they form a contraction "I'm". When the negative "not" sits next to "am" and tries to seduce "am" into forming a contraction, "am" finds it really uncomfortable. Also, "I" feels jealous towards "not" and does not want "am" to form a contraction with any other words but itself.


A love story.

My young students seem to like the story, and after that they remember the rule quite well.