April 18, 2008 09:42 AM
Rules of Order
The other day, I was speaking with a friend who is going through a hard time. A relative is very ill, and might not make it. This is causing a lot of stress and disruption in her family's lives, of course, but something she said really stuck with me. When speaking of her situation, she said "and what makes it worse is that my house is a mess. And when my house is out of order, I feel like my life is out of control." I could have said these very same words, and I'll bet there are plenty of people who feel the same way. In times of stress or change or other events, I can often be found straightening, organizing, and cleaning. I learned this about myself just after my mother had her first stroke, and I spent a week at her home scrubbing it down and tossing things out. And even in low-stress times, you know that feeling you get, just after you've cleaned your home and filed away all your bills and organized your closet? Well for me, that's one of the best feelings ever.
So I went in search of support for my "organized is always better" theory and did find plenty of articles, but was also surprised to find some experts saying the very opposite. In Time's Messy is the New Neat, I read that some people argue that spending lots of time organizing can be counterproductive. And in CBS News' Being Messy Has Its Perks, I learned something I didn't know: that really messy people do actually know where their stuff is, so perhaps to them, the disorder (as we see it) is quite orderly.
So, am I convinced that being neat is a waste of time? No way. Perhaps it's my nature or just my preference, but I'll take a nice, neat room with shoes lined up in a closet and books organized by height over a messy one any day. It just makes me feel better. Life is hard enough, and I always like to know exactly where my new Justin boots, favorite University of Florida pen, and my favorite scissors with the pink handle are, just in case I need them.
