Organize Your Things, Keep Life Calm

So, that sounds pretty simplistic, doesn’t’ it? Easier said than done, I can hear you thinking. Well, I’m right there with ya. And as someone who playfully dubs herself the “Queen of Messes,” I too have had major moan moments of, “there’s a mess again? How did this happen? Why is that stuff piling up? Again?!” 

Now, I’m not here to attempt to teach you how to organize your things. That’s better left to someone like Marie Kondo. And if you’re needing help getting started may I refer you to her book, or her Netflix series. She’s got a lot of tips for sorting, organizing, repurposing, etc. 

So, although I’m not the best to help you learn how to clean and straighten and organize; I hate cleaning by the way. Truly, I think it might be the bane of my existence. But (and this is a big but) I have come to the point where I can acknowledge that I do like things clean and organized, and that when it comes down to it, I can be rather particular about it too. And I’ve found that the reason I like it so much better when things are all neat and straight and not in total disarray is because I feel much calmer in an environment that is also calm. 

When things are out of place, and there are piles of stuff everywhere (some of my piles could probably rival the Leaning Tower of Pisa) I almost feel slightly claustrophobic. And I have a hard time focusing cause at the same time that I really don’t want to do anything about the mess, I sit there stewing over how I wish it would just take care of itself and all go away ala Sleeping Beauty. Well, maybe without the color wars, lol!  

Seriously though, I was raised in a household where keeping things clean and orderly was equal to taking care of your things, and then they last, and well, a very high priority was placed on cleanliness. And not just of yourself, but your things and house too. There were specifics on what to use for what, and the sparklines and squeakiness that let you know it was REALLY clean. So even now, when I’m cleaning, even though I’m getting the end result that I was taught was the expectation, and even thought I’m doing things exactly (or close enough) to how I was shown, I still have this nagging voice in my head about, “why are you doing it like that? And are you sure that’s clean enough?” Now, that’s an entirely different post about how I got rid of those negative voices, and just be able to clean and be happily satisfied with the finished product. And there’s also a train of thought that you can actually meditate your way through cleaning. (I have yet to read up on this nor try it out, but once I do I’ll post about it.)

Anyway, my point in my long-winded way, is that although usually I try to keep things fairly orderly (cause of hating to do the actual big time clean up, I try to avoid it, hah!), this summer we sort of let things slide a bit. And with being home, and having work things to organize too, the piles, well they sort of started to pile up. It became harder and harder to focus, and I got more stressed and cranky, and kind of shut down doing anything cause I knew it would feel better to get my stuff organized and cleaned up, but also knew I had work for my job to do and it was like the two just canceled each other out, and I got a minimum amount of work for my job done, and spent the majority of Friday scrolling Facebook, and watching YouTube videos. Not the best place to be when you know self-care is in order but just can’t quite muster the energy to do anything about it. 

So, last weekend was clean-up weekend. Organized those piles! Cut a bunch of them down too. The piles on the floor (don’t judge) are cleared up, and just a couple left on the table to get into the closet. The house got a real good scrub down, and the piles of stuff to be donated (they’ve been by the front door for a couple of weeks) went out and are in the car to be taken to the local donation point. And I have to say, I do feel better. My head’s a bit clearer, and I feel more ready to start the day, and get stuff done. I mean look at this, I haven’t had the motivation to write a post for the past couple of weeks although I’ve been trying to organize one in my head with no luck, and then today, I sit down at the computer, and boom, within an hour, I’ve got this post written!

So moral of the story is? Self-care can also be something that looks a lot less like selfcare on the surface. But my feeling is, if at the end you do feel better, are in a better mindset, thinking clearer, better able to focus, more motivated, have more energy? Then that my dear, was an act of self-care. Keep it up! You’re worth a bit of tending now and then. And in the process, you cleared a space for you own Potted Oasis!