Cleanliness
Ah, my bedroom is clean again. No more clutter, no more mounds of clothes scattered all over the place, no more layers of dust on the furniture, no more layers of dog hair on the carpet... just complete sanitization. (I'm not sure if sanitization is a word, but I remember from high school that Shakespeare used to create his own words by changing verbs to nouns and nouns to verbs, so I figure it's okay for me to do it too) What a great feeling.
I just dont function in clutter. When I see piles of books on a desk, I have to clear them off before I can sit down to do my work. This was especially true in college. I'd have to clean my entire dorm room before I could begin working on a paper (I'm not sure if that's procrastination or obsessive behavior). This doesnt mean that I live in a completely spotless house and freak everytime someone drops a crumb on the floor; though I wish I did live in a house like that. It's just not feasible. I mean, a person would never be able to stop cleaning if that were the case. And quite frankly, I need to have a life beyond Windex.
I'm certainly not a pack rat. I go through all my possessions about every 2 years and throw out anything I dont need any more. The rule of thumb is: Have I used it in the past 2 years? And do I see myself using it in the next 2 years? If both of those answers are no, it's trash (or donation). I only save things that are truly sentimental and irreplaceable (and dont take up too much space).
But I wonder why I have such a strong desire for clean, clutterless life. I took a really interesting english course in college. It was just your run-of-the-mill Composition class, with a not-so-run-of-the-mill professor. He was a pretty young guy (I actually thought he was a student the first time i saw him), and much more liberal than most of my past english teachers. I mean he let us use the word "I" in our papers... in fact, he encouraged it!! It was the first time since 5th grade I was allowed such a privilege. Anyway, we had to write a research paper at one point, and I remember the topic of one of the guys in the class. It was something along the lines of "why are trends pushing towards minimalism?" He talked about how whenever you saw a futuristic show or movie, there were never any knick-knacks on the desks, or appliances on the counter tops. It was just all clean lines, no junk anywhere. So why does that seem to be the way nearly everyone predicts the future will look? I thought it was a really interesting topic (I have no clue how he researched it though), and I never did read his final paper. But I can say for certain that I am one of those people doing my best to contribute to a clutter-free future.
I just dont function in clutter. When I see piles of books on a desk, I have to clear them off before I can sit down to do my work. This was especially true in college. I'd have to clean my entire dorm room before I could begin working on a paper (I'm not sure if that's procrastination or obsessive behavior). This doesnt mean that I live in a completely spotless house and freak everytime someone drops a crumb on the floor; though I wish I did live in a house like that. It's just not feasible. I mean, a person would never be able to stop cleaning if that were the case. And quite frankly, I need to have a life beyond Windex.
I'm certainly not a pack rat. I go through all my possessions about every 2 years and throw out anything I dont need any more. The rule of thumb is: Have I used it in the past 2 years? And do I see myself using it in the next 2 years? If both of those answers are no, it's trash (or donation). I only save things that are truly sentimental and irreplaceable (and dont take up too much space).
But I wonder why I have such a strong desire for clean, clutterless life. I took a really interesting english course in college. It was just your run-of-the-mill Composition class, with a not-so-run-of-the-mill professor. He was a pretty young guy (I actually thought he was a student the first time i saw him), and much more liberal than most of my past english teachers. I mean he let us use the word "I" in our papers... in fact, he encouraged it!! It was the first time since 5th grade I was allowed such a privilege. Anyway, we had to write a research paper at one point, and I remember the topic of one of the guys in the class. It was something along the lines of "why are trends pushing towards minimalism?" He talked about how whenever you saw a futuristic show or movie, there were never any knick-knacks on the desks, or appliances on the counter tops. It was just all clean lines, no junk anywhere. So why does that seem to be the way nearly everyone predicts the future will look? I thought it was a really interesting topic (I have no clue how he researched it though), and I never did read his final paper. But I can say for certain that I am one of those people doing my best to contribute to a clutter-free future.
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