Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
Netflix

For those readers who have never heard of Marie Kondo, then the idea of a series on how to properly fold a shirt or sort a cutlery drawer might not have much appeal. But Marie Kondo is a phenomenon whose book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, has sold more than six million copies.

Her method is simple: look at what you have, particularly if you have, like most of us, too much, and address each item separately, asking: does it give you joy? If it doesn’t, then give it away, saying thank you to it as you do so. Yes, I know, it all sounds a bit much – but the Japanese Kondo is drawing on ancient wisdoms (she spent five years as an attendant maiden at a Shinto shrine) that we would do well to re-examine. Certainly, as this fascinating Netflix series demonstrates, we are drowning, both metaphorically and literally, under the weight of stuff.