In 2014, Marie Kondo, Japan’s decluttering wunderkind, published a little-known and unassuming book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” As a professional cleaning consultant, Kondo developed a technique called the KonMari Method (its title derived from her first and last name) and has since become an international bestselling author. “Life-Changing Magic” has gone on to sell more than 3 million copies, as well as being published and translated in more than 30 countries. In 2015, Kondo was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.

So, if you’re looking for some motivation for making those New Year’s resolutions a reality, you’re in luck, because Kondo has released an improved, illustrated edition titled “Spark Joy.”

There’s only one requirement when reading “Spark Joy” or “Life-Changing Magic,” and that is an open mind. Kondo’s terminology and methods can appear esoteric to our Western culture, yet at its center, the logic is quite simple. For example, within the context of KonMari, she repurposes the words “tidy” and “clean.” Kondo explains the distinction: “Tidying deals with objects; cleaning deals with dirt. Both are aimed at making a room look clean, but tidying means moving objects and putting them away, while cleaning means wiping and sweeping away dirt.” How is this a radical idea? Marie Kondo believes that her act of tidying should only occur once and, to be successful, it must be completed in precise order.
Here are the six basic rules of tidying:

1. Commit yourself to tidying up
2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle
3. Finish discarding first
4. Tidy by category, not by location
5. Follow the right order
6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy

Sparking joy means asking yourself whether an item brings you happiness, and if not, you thank the item for its service, then discard.

“If you are confident that something brings you joy, keep it, regardless of what anyone else might say. Even if it isn’t perfect, no matter how mundane it might be, when you use it with care and respect, you transform it into something priceless,” says Kondo, further informing, “The Japanese believed that gods resided not only in natural phenomena such as the sea and the land but also in the cooking stove and even in each individual grain of rice, and therefore they treated all of them with reverence. … The idea that everything is imbued with spirit would seem to be engraved in the Japanese DNA.”

“Life-Changing Magic” is exactly what the title states. It is succinct and ambitious; however, “Spark Joy” succeeds where its predecessor did not. This illustrated edition contains the same information, yet the message is delivered softer and with more empathy. Perhaps this is in part due to Kondo’s own life-changing magic of getting married and recently having a daughter. In addition to the kawaii illustrations of “Spark Joy,” Kondo details her experiences with clients in conjunction with KonMari methods. Utilizing real world examples lends her instructions a level of gravitas, leaving you with a sense of shared experience and empowerment. Also, “Spark Joy” delves into unanswered questions that “Life-Changing Magic” left behind, like what becomes of objects that may fall under a gray area, It also offers suggestions on how to joyfully arrange your cherished items in a revitalized environment.

Learning how to bake bread, which Kondo did recently, she admits, was similar to how she felt as a young girl — being overwhelmed by trying to tackle the clutter in her life, and it was then she had a revelation: “I had set the standard so high that I was petrified of failure even before I got started.”

Sound familiar? This may be how you feel when contemplating learning a new skill to declutter your own life. As Kondo states in “Life-Changing Magic,” “People cannot change their habits without first changing their way of thinking.” However, simply choosing to pick up this book means you have an urge to create change for yourself, improve your lifestyle, and achieve a level of happiness.

In parting, here are a few words from a favorite passage that not only give pause but fuel inspiration:

“If you feel anxious all the time but are not sure why, try putting your things in order. Hold each thing you own in your hands and ask yourself whether or not it sparks joy. Then cherish the ones that you decide to keep, just as you cherish yourself, so that every day of your life will be filled with joy.”

— Ilka Iwanczuk writes for the Lawrence Public Library.