Wonderings about clutter
I wonder if some people walk into a neat, clean, tidy room and get this uneasy feeling that does not go away until they have dropped a pair of shoes in the hallway, or thrown a jacket across the back of a couch or dining chair? If they get the heebie-jeebies until they’ve left their half-full glass on the end table?
I wonder if those individuals bemoan their plight of never being able to get more done due to having to go behind some neat-freak every day to make the house appear lived in?
I wonder if, like muscle fatigue and will-power, organizational skills get exhausted in other activities and simply cannot be continued until adequately rested. If individuals who can arrange extended events down to the smallest detail, have pushed that super-power to the point of utter exhaustion — to the point of not being able to put their house keys, or glasses, or whatever, in a constant, appropriate place so they can find them quickly the next time they need them?
I wonder if horizontal surfaces present a challenge to these people, not unlike buffets do to other people? If, perhaps, they see a clear, uncluttered, flat surface and feel compelled to subdue it with unread mail (that probably should have been discarded without opening), or other flotsam and jetsom of their day — and leave it there until they’ve forgotten its purpose — or have to find their house keys under it?
I wonder, while thinking about horizontal surfaces (can one design a house without flat surfaces?), if it is some variant of feng shui requires the used cups and bowls — along with yet more mail and last season’s decorations to be placed at odd intervals around a counter that prevents its use as a work surface?
I also wonder, what with closets, dressers, and cabinets, why the largest horizontal surface, the floor, must be occupied with piles for clean clothes and other piles for dirty clothes, and, from what I’ve been able to ascertain so far, yet other piles for clothes that have been worn but might be worn again before laundry day? Of course, I could finish the closet — but I’m not convinced that will change this behavior. I’ll let you know later.
I wonder if they think others of us are just strange — in that, we don’t use our vehicles as alternate storage facilities?
I wonder if, like my red-green colorblindness, there might be such a thing as clutter-blindness? If so, I wonder if it would be more helpful to make incredulous statements that sound like playful ridicule, attempt to ‘fix’ it (as if it is a behavior), or just wear blinders — I am thankful there are no legos in the house now.
I presume that you know I have specific people in mind as I’m wondering these wonders. And, I love these particular individuals, so, in my wondering, I’m not being mean-spirited or facetious in asking these questions. I do wonder. It would be helpful to understand such things. I have no diagnosed disabilities associated with order and such; I just find clutter to create a bit of chaos and distract from calm progress.
