Eros in the Closet

Abstract

People need look only in their closets to find joy, asserts Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo. Followers worldwide rely on her method of household tidying to transform their cluttered spaces into refuges of serenity. Here, writer Jory Kahn uses C. G. Jung’s typology to explore Kondo’s approach as a powerful tool on the path to individuation. The key, Kahn says of Kondo’s method, is to invoke Eros—the Greek god of love representing the creative impulse—to decide which possessions to keep and which to discard. Westerners often suspect the feeling function is too unpredictable, too wild, and trust the thinking function instead. Even though she does not name it as such, the feeling function is precisely what Kondo recommends. Keeping the treasured and trashing the rest can help one develop a happier, more conscious relationship with one’s things and, ultimately, one’s Self. Kahn observes that Kondo, a former Shinto shrine maiden, views everything as having a spirit. Greeting possessions accordingly animates even inanimate objects. Disengaging the thinking function in favor of the feeling function can be a transformative experience.