So Long a Letter Revision. Literature & Language Essay

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“The empty promises of Marie Kondo”: Edited Response
In “The empty promises of Marie Kondo and the craze for minimalism,” adapted from The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism, Kyle Chayka discusses a global, emerging pattern: minimalism. The pattern, or concept, informed by a long lineage of practitioners (e.g. Marie Kondo, a Japanese cleaning guru whose minimalism books and courses are bestsellers), is about keeping less possessions to “spark joy” in one’s life. By getting rid of one’s “unnecessary stuff, so minimalism goes, clutter is not only eliminated but, more importantly, one gains a new perspective of space – and life – at a home no longer full of extravagance or, rather, show of extravagance. The central argument in “The empty promises of Marie Kondo” is less about minimalism per se. Instead, Chayka puts under scrutiny evolving conceptualizations of minimalism as a function of happiness. Specifically, Chayka questions current minimalism as less a matter of personal persuasion informed by actual life choices and more as a necessity, or a frugality of sorts, mandated by radical changes in recent years informed by economic scarcity.
The article starts off by an interesting story of Sonrisa Andersen. A minimalist convert, Andersen has experienced similar accumulation addictions her mother when through after divorce and on. The story appears, at face value, to praise minimalist as a radical force of change and, more importantly, as a sure way for happiness and peace of mind. Indeed, Chayka goes on to praise minimalism, still in face value, by, for instance, showing benefits of minimalism such
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as saving and, not least, going against mainstream by liking one has, not seeking more only to
please everyone but oneself. More, Chayka continues by spending several paragraphs
explicating negativity and, no less, unhappiness associated with (hyper)consumerism. Further,
goes on Chayka, consumerism, or materialism, has destroyed environment (literally) by an
excessive drive to possess and accumulate. In contrast, counters Chayka, minimalism is a
personal choice everyone could make. This is where Chayka shifts to question minimalism now
more critically and away from face value endorsement.
For acolytes, argues Chayka, minimalism has become a brand. Like Kondo, followers are adopting minimalism less out of personal persuasions and more out of a fascination of a new cool craze made more acceptable and mainstream by changing economic realities. Now, many more people are freelancers compared to salaried employees. Financial stability, let alone wealth, is now a dream of millions and realized less in physical assets and possessions and more in equity and stock, usually in international tax havens. The prohibition of (easily) buying more online using credit cards and getting deeper into debt has made minimalism, asserts Chayka, a panacea to balance out needs for coolness (by adopting latest craze) and needs for respectability (by living minimal at affordable cost). Thus, minimalism, now a commodity, shifts from an all too perfect concept of personal happiness into yet another commodity sold and promoted to millions in a new bottle of less stressful life, more money, less distraction, higher quality stuff (Jobs only one prominent example), more freedom, and, no less, more generosity. Yet, simple as is, minimalism is full of complexity, a complexity eliminated at consumption end as simplicity and, ironically, minimalism.
To wrap up, Chayka counters current whole sale arguments for minimalism.
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Essentially, Chayka puts in question complexities underlying minimalism. In subjecting
emerging minimalism craze, brewing for years, Chayka can be said, rhetorically speaking, to
subvert current conceptions and practices of minimalism in order to uncover underlying (hidden,
intentionally or not) complexities making minimalism not as simple or, for that matter, serene as
appears.
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Works Cited
Chayka, Kyle. “The em...