Does it spark joy?

Netnet Camomot . 

MARIE Kondo’s book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” was released in 2014, inspiring its readers to hold each of their possessions and ask that most important question: “Does it spark joy?”

But there’s nothing like a Netflix show that premiered on the first day of the new year to start the ball rolling on that New Year’s resolution to have a major spring cleaning.

Kondo’s “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo” debuted on Netflix on Jan. 1 and has proven that online streaming is more effective and has more reach than a book. Per a CNN report, thrift shops and used bookstores have noticed an increase in the quantity of items they’ve been receiving from people who apparently have been decluttering after—or is it while?—watching the Netflix show.

Kondo, who’s Japanese, has a translator in the show but there’s definitely no lost-in-translation scenarios as her KonMari method helps hoarders and potential hoarders give away stuff that doesn’t spark joy.

Books and piggies will always spark joy for me. But, as I wrote in a previous column, I have to read each of the unread books I’ve hoarded to learn which among them sparks joy and, therefore, are worth keeping.

My siopao face, bilbil, mile-wide hips, cottage-cheese thighs and huge upper arms also don’t spark joy, thus, I’m trying to lose weight through, uh, unsa gani to nga diet? Operative word: trying.

The Continuing Professional Development seminars for the renewal of professional identification cards don’t spark joy at all but the only thing I can do with that is to not vote for its author, Sen. Sonny Trillanes.

You can use this KonMari method on people, too. If a certain person doesn’t spark joy, hmmm, let’s see—pronounced as that Spanish word for milk—if a thrift shop or a used bookstore will accept him.

And feel free to KonMari any situation or organization—if they don’t spark joy, get outta there. Simplify your life already.

There’s this quote that has been attributed to John Lennon despite the lack of proof on that. Anyway, he supposedly said this: “When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

Teachers are used to reading, To be a doctor, To be a lawyer, To be rich, as a child’s answer to, Anong gusto mong maging? But if you base all your decisions on what sparks joy, surely you’ll be happy. Choose a prospective spouse who sparks joy, a career that sparks joy, a house that sparks joy, and you’ll survive through the worst of times because you’re already surrounded by so many sources of joy. But—and this is a big but—happiness starts with you. Only you can make you happy. If that’s not happening yet, you have to find out why, and the KonMari method can help you with that.

Kris Aquino and Nicko Falcis are definitely not sparking joy in each other’s life as their respective videos and interviews continue to be shown on social media and television. Kris is already an expert in airing her side of any story for many years now. Falcis, on the other hand, is a newcomer in this tell-all-and-cry strategy, yet he could be funny when he wondered aloud why Kris is doing all these to him when he’s not even one of her men, meaning someone she used to be in a relationship with. FYI: Falcis is gay, so, he can never be Kris’ boyfriend or hubby. By the way, there’s Google to refresh your memory on the many ways she released damning revelations about some of her exes.

Kris is an Aquino. There was a time when Pinoy politics was all about the Aquinos versus the Marcoses. Wait, that’s how it still is in Pinas, but I’m not sure if Kris was referring to their longunning political feud when she hinted that the Falcis case is all about 2022, that some people are using Falcis and trolls in dimming her chances if ever she decides to run for office in 2022. When she revealed this in one of her videos, I could almost see the Marcoses with question marks overhead as they wondered if the Ilocos’ bagnet and pinakbet could help Kris regain her common sense.

I don’t know if Kris’ suspicions are true but linking politics to her Falcis narrative is like blaming my weight gain on my neighbor’s gluttony. Unsay connect? But if indeed Falcis is using his connections to his advantage, he’s clearly the underdog in this scenario because he’s not an Aquino, Ninoy and Tita Cory are not in his family tree, and former Pres. Noynoy is not his Kuya.

Kris said she never had any financial issues with her former managers and even with ABS-CBN. But why is she not with them anymore?

Falcis is calling Kris a bully for what she has done to him. Kris and her family don’t even have to be bullies—their family name is intimidating enough.

People won’t stay with you if the surname of the other side is the type that demands respect—or else! Or else those caught in between will lose their careers and their businesses if they choose you. As one friend told me, Negosyo ilang gipili, dili ikaw. Ouch. It’s not a matter of who’s telling the truth but whose “truth” will bring them more money and business deals. Does that spark joy? Tsk tsk.