I cleaned the house today. I've vacuumed, dusted, mopped, hung out washing and even cleaned windows and scrubbed the shower. And in true and fascinating form my mind predictably wandered far and wide as I worked.
It wandered to the abundance of talk in blog land lately about how "real life" is not always so squeaky clean....of how sometimes we can set a standard for ourselves or create a desire for something quite unrealistic. I agree..... I know this..... sometimes I still do this.... yet I like to think most times I don't.
Then my mind wandered further while my arms were in the air pegging clothes to the line. I had thought quite a bit lately that I had changed....a lot....in the last year. I think it began about the time my little guy started moving around and making his own additional mark on my home. I thought about how I had started to not clean so much and... not really worry too much about it. So I started to think about why?
It was then that I realised within almost the same moment that I'm also really really good at making excuses. Excuses! That makes me guilty of placing at least some unrealistic expectations on myself despite liking to think most times I don't. So just because I think I have changed because I don't physically clean so much doesn't mean that it doesn't bother me in some way to make excuses for it. I'm still attached to the thought that my home should be clean.
It seems I still have some mental housekeeping to do to detach myself from these thoughts....because like a lot of blog land is getting at....it really is unimportant. So pardon me please....while I disentangle myself from the dust, cobwebs, spilt food and smudgy fingerprints of my mind....and really stop worrying about whether I clean the house or not.
But before I get to that wholeheartedly and just for today, to practice being in the moment too of course, I'm really going to love the fact that my house is quiet, tidy and scrubbed clean!
Have you seen the new "in real life" flickr group?
It's quite fun and heartwarming and best of all...grounding.
7 comments:
I think you hit the nail on the head! Yes there are all sorts of external pressures on us to keep a clean, tidy home, the main reason comes from how it does feel when the house is clean. I know for myself I then feel free to pursure my own interests, but I also feel satisfied. Likewise I feel unmotivated and blah when the house is a mess. Perhaps it is all linked to self-control or lack there of! It sure is an interesting one. I am of course not referring to obsessive cleaning at the expensive of a life-that is another form of control! A happy balance is what we need to achieve, the emphasis on us being happy! (hope I didn't crap on too much!)
yes. i hate that i do that to myself, but i do. eventually. i try so hard to tell myself that it doesn't matter, but it still does sometimes. BUT i'm getting better. i'm changing and someday i'll be able to say,"Hi. I;m Cyndi. I'm a reformed perfectionist."
Wow, yes i am a clean freak, I do say to myself it does not matter, but my little unit functions better when there is order in the home (or maybe I function better with my little unit). I once cared that I was seeming neurotic and now i don't care. This is our little worlds and we keep them how we need to i guess.
xxxx
Great post..xx
Yes, I like it when my home is clean and tidy as well. I have made it a lot easier by doing a lot of decluttering, which gives the visual appearance of tidiness, and like Miss Muggins said when your house is clean you feel free to pursue your own interests guilt-free.
take car
Pip
I do like for things to be clean, but in reality I just vacuumed my floor for the first time in weeks! And, my tile floors have yet to be scrubbed since my little guy entered the world....almost 15 months ago. But, I've come to accept it because I'd rather be playing or making something or reading...The only time I'm bothered is if the mess gets in the way of the two of us having fun. That being said I have cleaned up quite a bit lately, and like you, I'm currently enjoying my tidy home...while it lasts! :)
What a great post.I'm still trying to achieve what Miss Muggins describes - that happy balance! Not quite there yet...
Love your blog, so glad I discovered it.
:)
Megan
Oh, so true! You wrote this so beautifully and explained how so many of us feel. Good food for thought here...
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