Just recently, maybe a few days ago, I have begun to realize the merits of having a clean home. I didn’t seem to understood why people were bothered by stuff strewn this way and that, a generous layer of dirt or wrinkled shirts. So what if the floors were not swept for weeks? So what if the laundry pile is looking like Mount Vesuvius just erupted? So what if the food rests and crumbs are collecting all around your kitchen counters, just underneath the armies of plates, cups and saucers? And forget about your children’s messes. If you can’t be seen cleaning up your own mess, forget about the children’s. Hmmm..
Just underneath all these “so whats?” I’m starting to see that a clean home uplifts, de-stresses, de-compresses the mind. When you walk in and your home is clean, people in general feel restful and a sense of pride. I supremely agree. I love clean homes. They are other people’s homes. I’m always in awe by them and I truly admire and respect the people who can live in a home and manage to keep it clutter-free and clean.
Back to seeing clean. If I start programming my brain to start thinking this way, that clean is THE way to be, THE path to enlightenment, perhaps then I can begin to chip away at the largest obstacle: how to convince myself I am the person who needs to do the cleaning — not only laundry (the only cleaning chore I love).
I’ve enlisted the help of the Messies e-mail list. I’m certainly a “Messie”, and I’ve decided to have The Organizer Lady, Sandra Felton, help me. She has written numerous organizing and cleaning books, notably The Messies Manual and Living Organized. I haven’t read any of these yet, but I have attended a short workshop session at a small homeschooling conference in Miami.
Regarding the e-mail list, I like how you get one e-mail every day, which includes one general tip or idea of the day plus reminders. Then you delete it so you don’t become a “messie” with your inbox either. The major issue is attitude change, and I hope as I religiously read the e-mails my mind will be nourished with wholesome, clean ideas to help me become the clean and organized person I know is lurking inside somewhere. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. This may the hardest challenge for me of all, truly swimming upstream.
