Part 1 of a 3 Part Series

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

 

Home.  It’s a place of refuge, strength, and peace.  It’s where you come to recharge, make sense out of life, and find ways to express your creativity.

                                                    

At least . . . it should be.

 

How has the state of your home been, lately?  Has it become harder to find things that you need?  Are the dishes sitting in the sink longer than normal?  Are you having to step over things on the floor than usual?  Or, have you lived in disarray for so long that you’re not sure anything else is possible?

 

If this is you, welcome to my life!  I am a native messy.  I grew up avoiding order and not thinking twice about it.  Even in young adulthood, learning how to stay organized was extremely difficult.  It’s only been within the past few years I have been able to make clearer steps toward a cleaner, more organized home. 

 

And, there is hope for you as well.  If you feel alone in this, you aren’t.  There are literally millions of people that feel trapped by the craziness inside their homes.  And they don’t know how to take care of them, mainly because they were never taught how.

 

I’m not an expert.  This is what I have learned through my own experience.  It’s my response to the constant exhaustion of being overwhelmed in my home.  My desire is that this will inspire you to make a few changes or at least remind you why an orderly home can be a peaceful one.  In Part 2 of this article, I will share my own tips and techniques that have helped me, but for now, let’s talk about why we clean up at all (these are the reasons I give my children, too).

 

We keep our home clean to . . .

 

1. Feel more human.

 

You know the feeling when you first step into a hot shower and immediately, you feel better as a person?  I call that feeling more human.  It’s the simple acts of taking care of ourselves that makes us feel more whole as a human being.  This also extends into how we take care of our homes.  When you walk into your kitchen with dishes cleaned and put away, counters washed, and (at least) a swept floor, you instantly feel relived.  You feel taken care of.

 

Imagine being in a hospital where everything is in disorder.  The floors are dirty and all the doctors and nurses are running around looking for what they need.  Do you really think you could heal in a place like that?  That is how you should think of your home.  It’s a place of healing, learning, and nurturing. It’s very hard for those to happen if all you see is disorder and upheaval.

 

2. We can think clearly.

 

We have a clean home so that .we can think clearly.  You woke up this morning feeling fantastic.  You’ve got some projects in mind that you really want to accomplish and you even have the energy to do them.  Then, you get out of bed.  First you notice the clothes on the bedroom floor.  The top of your dresser would take at least an hour to clean off and . . . what is that smell.  Okay.  Walk out of the bedroom into the hallway.  Oops.  Still need to finish painting the hallway.  More clothes and a few toys.  Ouch!  Stepped on one of them.  “I thought I told him to . . . ”  You stop dead in your tracks when you reach the kitchen.  Old dishes left in the sink, food left out the night before, and the floor sticks from someone’s spillage.  Keep moving.  Keep moving.  Enter bathroom left and well . . . we just won’t go there.

 

You get my point.  Whatever ideas or goals you had for yourself have already fled in terror leaving you feeling like you should have stayed in bed.

 

Remaining in a disordered state stunts our creativity and strips us of our personal power.  Barbara Sher describes this as silent noise.  Though clutter may not physically speak, it’s loud enough in our minds to overwhelm us to the point of depression.

 

3. So we can enjoy life.

 

“On the seventh day, [God] rested from all his work.”

 -Genesis 2:2

 

Finally, we have a clean home so that we can enjoy life!  Even God himself knew that you can’t really rest if there is work to be done.  The point of order is not order, but to enjoy the life you have.  When you live in a cleaner more organized space, it’s much easier to be creative, take a needed nap, or have some plain, old fun with those that you love.  You can welcome people into your home, without feeling embarrassed about how they might perceive the space in which you live.  For me, when I clean my home, it gives me the chance to really pay attention to my little ones and be reminded of how precious they are.

 

These are just some of the building blocks as to why it is important to have a clean, organized that works for each of us.  After all, if you are going to keep our homes clean, we need some very good reasons for doing so.

 

Next: Hope for the Home 2: 13 Simple Ways to Keep Your Home Clean and Less Cluttered

 

“He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.”
-Johann von Goethe

 

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