The difference between actual advice from Marie Kondo and random people vaugely inspired by her really is astounding.

I haven't read her stuff, though I might have to now to understand what this is all about.

But from what I can tell, the knockoffs are often really pushy and act like anyone who doesn't like empty space more than stuff, or who keeps decorations or trinkets, might as well be a pissjug hoarder.

I'd even say they sometimes encourage landfill filling by creating such a rush to get rid of stuff that sometimes taking it to a thrift store gets forgotten.

But I really haven't seen any of the pushiness at all from her. *Someone* is out there saying we should only have 30 books, but not her.

As I see it, the aggressive version of less is more is behind a LOT of bad ideas, and a lot of neutral ideas that are purely a matter of preference that get promoted as being for everyone.

I still have pretty much no interest in “functionalist design” or “spend on experiences” aka restaurants, or learning Vim and Emacs.

But Kondo isn't shoving these down everyone's throats, and often doesn't even seem to be promoting anything even vaugely similar to the stuff we've all been complaining about.

I'm sure she has plenty of advice I wouldn't like or agree with, but then again I'm sure any random person in a crowd would have just as much of it if they wrote a book.

She said that if the image of getting rid of books makes you angry, that should tell you how passionate you are about books.

So Marie Kondo, thanks a lot for showing the world how many people really do like their stuff, and have no interest in tossing it. And thanks for encouraging lots of people who don't actually like their stuff to give it a new life with someone who will enjoy it.

And thanks for showing everyone, in a less political than usual example, how nonsense rumors and biased thinking gets to us all.

Let's all try to do a little less gossip and a little more investigation, because gossip is how you lose friends, and who doesn't love a good game of amateur detective?

I posted one time in the r/90s subreddit, on a thread about how EVERYONE had a magnifying glass in their drawer, even if they didn't need one or know anyone who did.

Someone wondered why, and I suggested that maybe it was a symbol. It meant you're always ready to find something hidden, that there was always something more even in the places you thought you understood.

“And so it is the Herald's task the hidden truth to win,

To see behind the face without and find the face within.”