Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Great phrase – must have been put out there by an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) who loved to rearrange things, categorize them, and put things in an “order”.
I guess I would be guilty of that!! Four days at the estate house and I loved it! Picking things up and moving them so they were symmetric. Finding little pieces of tissues that had been tucked away and gently whisking them into a garbage can. Making a clutter look like a spacious dwelling by just moving a few things to a new location.
Now that I’m over 50 I’m beginning to recognize that this is not just an old age thing for me. 25 years ago I took a library science degree, in part because libraries are about putting things in place so they are accessible.
But perhaps the memory that sticks out comes from my grade eight year. We were living in Toronto and headed down to the Royal Winter Fair. My father and mother, both with farm roots, loved to see the animals and look at the new farm machinery. I was caught up with the shiny “toys” and collected as many brochures as possible.
Now, what did I do when I got home? I put them all into my own classification system (which I still maintain was better than Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress). With tabs in place and brochures settled into their home, I would extract a brochure and think about what it would be like to be on a farm with the latest and greatest machinery. Then I started sending for more of the brochures by using the addresses off the brochures.
That all worked until the day my parents got a call from a salesman who wanted to talk to “Ron Baker” about some farm machinery.
That was the end. At that age, I just liked to put things in order and dream of what technology can do – I wasn’t going to buy a farm, run a dairy or seed a field. So I stopped sending for brochures and a few months later the brochures found the garbage can.
But not the mentality that things should be put neat and tidy so that you can find what you need when you need it. Avoid the frustration of the futile search. Join the ranks of those who have “a place for everything and everything in it’s place.”
Now, where are my glasses – I probably should read this before I post it!!