When this book swept through America, alongside Marie Kondo's television program, the internet was suddenly ablaze with stories of people who finally managed to free themselves from the emotional torture of living in unlivable messes that they had created over the course of years. That means that, although Marie Kondo is just a person, she is like a savior to the people who finally learned how to be free from their chronic phobia of cleaning.
Viewing the home as a religious domain means that cleaning one's home is a religious practice, and Kondo helps to provide a spiritual guidance to that process, not just for her clients, but also potentially for her readers. The most critical aspect of her guidance is that she does not shame anyone for their mess, nor for their seemingly silly or nonsensical attachments to their possessions.
Instead, Marie Kondo views a person's home as a reflection of their self. By helping them to eliminate their attachments to objects they don't need, she actually helps them feel lighter, more free, more capable, less paranoid, less fearful of work, and less prone to make those messes in the first place. The most critical piece of information in the whole book might be this little factoid: although most clients believe their clutter would take years to clean, she can clean it in about six hours, because she doesn't have the emotional attachment that they do. She is able therefore to help them attain the same detachment that she has, demonstrating her freedom through happiness and warmth.
