Spark Joy

This was the first podcast that I listened to all episodes of. It particularly kept me sane during the pandemic Thank you

Maybe now that the show is over, this review will actually stay up. Oh, you didn’t know that any review short of blind praise was deleted? I couldn’t figure out why this show had such consistently good ratings either. I really wanted to like this podcast, being as it is the only one I can find on this topic. I loved the books, don’t get me wrong! But the podcast is so hard to listen to. Both hosts have serious difficulty speaking, and do so at about 4 words per minute. They struggle to squeeze out each sentence gratingly. And correct me if I’m wrong, but if Karen is American, why does she talk with the poise and diction of an ESOL student? These ladies are educated and smart, yet you would never know from they way they cannot hold a simple conversation, are abysmal interviewers, and seem to hold no opinions or anecdotes of their own. They add nothing of substance to their own podcast. It feels very one-sided when the guest they have on is competent and actually has something to say. Something also of note was that it took them awhile to set up a merch/patreon/subscription service type deal, only to last maybe over a year before everything shut down. Hm.

This is the podcast that I needed to actually begin to tidy and to keep my motivation going along the way. I appreciate that this podcast is positive and real, and I enjoy the variety of guests. For every barrier I face or every issue or concern that I have, someone else has faced it, and this podcast has helped me to feel connection and camaraderie and, perhaps most importantly, to move to action because I feel less overwhelmed and now have a plan. The two episodes that have helped me the most are Episode 72, “Planning your Tidying Journey” [this was a practical and empowering episode – thanks to this show, I have a plan and have begun to implement it], Episode 37, “The True Cost of Clutter” [this episode built my motivation and made me assess exactly what too much clutter has cost me and our family.] Other favorites include Episode 141, “Brother-Sister Tidying Duo” because of the love and mutual support you could feel from the siblings featured on the show. I loved the openness and honesty of that episode and how the brother is a champion of his sister’s tidying consultancy I loved Episode 50, “The Future is Beautiful with Amisha Ghadiali”, and I have really enjoyed the book review episodes on The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and Spark Joy at Work. Thank you, Kristyn and Karin, for sharing your expertise, for your thoughtfulness and empathy, and for programming such an interesting array of guests.

The Spark Joy Podcast is one of my go to listens while on the road for work. Both Karin and Kristyn are a pleasure to listen to as they provide all the great interworkings of the KonMari method and make me want to be a more organized person.