An anti-anticlutter movement is afoot, one that says yes to mess and urges you to embrace your disorder. Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands.
“It’s chasing an illusion to think that any organization — be it a family unit or a corporation — can be completely rid of disorder on any consistent basis,” said Jerrold Pollak, a neuropsychologist at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, N.H., whose work involves helping people tolerate the inherent disorder in their lives. “And if it could, should it be? Total organization is a futile attempt to deny and control the unpredictability of life. I live in a world of total clutter, advising on cases where you’d think from all the paper it’s the F.B.I. files on the Unabomber,” when, in fact, he said, it’s only “a person with a stiff neck.”
the above was taken in part from an article in the New York Times...looks like i can cross one item off my new year's resolution list! it's a great article, and it makes me laugh to think about my sad attempts to be a good housekeeper. the thing that i've discovered is that YOU HAVE TO KEEP DOING IT. man, not sure that is worth the effort. so, i clean up the house about once a week, and my office whenever i start tripping over the stuff in it. i daydream about file folders and wicker bins and tidy bookshelves. but then i go eat a cookie and watch "flip that house."some of my friends, however, might want to check this article out...not that i'm expecting YOU will change anytime soon, either :)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/garden/21mess.html?ex=1167627600&en=e6f64977cb8e2564&ei=5070
4 comments:
You wouldn't be talking about Carey in that last statement would you?:) I am glad to see there are fellow meesy people out there, and that it is OK! Sometimes I get stressed about my messes, but God love me it just doesn't stay clean long when I do clean.
hey now! i'm NOT what you think i am i'm all about surface clean...most of the time my closets and drawers are a mess. so, see. i'm cool and creative and fun...i just hide it a little better than you guys. :)
This makes me feel better. I always said I didn't trust people who had everything perfect ALL OF THE TIME. How do they do it? I don't think they let their kids play or work for that matter.
I am going to show to the home office who finds issue with my recent housekeeping skills. Thank you for the validation friend.
Um, I just spent 14 hours at the House of Clean. I turned my back for two seconds and the Hazelnut creamer disappeared, only to be found safely tucked away in a very neat cupboard. Sorry, buddy. I'll have to side with Bobbi and Chris on this one. You ARE cool AND creative. You're also a neat freak.
:-)
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