Neatness Counts

There may be dirty dishes in the sink, dog hair on the floor and the living room carpet and certainly the glass on the shower door needs a good scrubbing. BUT! My bed is made. I have this thing about making a bed. I could be 34 hours late to something but I would stop to make my bed. I simply refuse to come home and see my bed a storm tossed pile of pillows and disheveled sheets.

I am not a compulsive neat freak, but I do have to have a certain modicum of neatness and order. My little apt here at the Towers is neat, livable and could be spotless in about 20 minutes if I put some effort into a little straightening and vacuuming. What I can not understand is how people can live in clutter and dirt. I have friends that have maybe one or two places to sit despite having rooms full of furniture; everything is full of magazines, papers, mail, boxes, you name it. Then there was Chuck whose house was so cluttered there was one path through from the back door, past the bathroom to his bed (never made).

As we clamor for more! MORE! MORE! and buy everything under the sun, our living spaces are becoming more like glorified storage units. Witness the madness of having a garage full of junk and leaving your $20,000 or more car out in the elements. I know people who eat dinner sitting on the couch balancing a plate as there are no tables cleared, they are full of "stuff". There are residents here at the towers who have huge condos full of lovely things, all covered in dust, never used. Despite having 2,800 Sq Ft of living space, they use 1 room and a bath. Crazy.

I used to have places full of things, but my decent into a long period of underemployment has allowed me to shed things and have just what I need. Oh, I still have some junk I need to get rid of, stuff no one wanted or mementos I want to hang on to. But I feel freer and less encumbered by junk.

That (and a made bed) can make you a healthier person for sure!