Dear Reader:

The problem with living alone is that when the house gets messy there is no one else to blame. That said, ever since the children all moved out (long ago)…overall the level of messiness is minute in comparison to earlier years.

It is the kind of messiness I can fix, given about 10 minutes warning. (When it was me and the kids all living here…I would have needed at least an hour’s notice and that would involve throwing items from the floor to the closet….out of sight, out of mind.)

In the summers, while not teaching, I used to love to watch soap operas, not for the non-existent story lines, but simply to drool over the houses. Adultery, murder, mayhem would be circling the main actors’ lives but their homes were immaculate. I would stare at polished floors, beautiful fresh flower arrangements, with no speck of dust allowed to settle…in complete envy. “One day” I kept telling myself….“One day” that will be me and my house.

Yeah, right!

In order for that to happen we first have to completely change ourselves from who we are to an alien with a vacuum cleaner attached to each robotic arm.

I have always seen posters and read articles that creativity and messiness go together. I do believe there is something to that….In movies…don’t we always see the brilliant but absent-minded rocket scientist (who will save the world from little green men) behind his desk filled with books toppling over, along with complete chaos throughout the house?

There was a survey done in an old Huffington Post article, from years back, that stated messy housekeepers were intellectually superior to their clean house friends. They just had so many thoughts and ideas they wanted to explore that it didn’t leave time to stay home and use the hours for cleaning house.

An updated version of this article (December 2015) called

Messy People Are Really Just Productive Geniuses, According To Science (gives this insight.)

Three examples of creativity and messiness.

1.You’re not concerned with the status quo.

Haltiwanger believes that being neat and organized can be necessary and even beautiful. However, people should also learn to embrace chaos, because nothing stays neat and tidy. Everything goes back in disarray later on.

“Disorganized people have seen the light. They won’t allow their lives to be dictated by propriety and convention,” he said.

2. You find inspiration in mess.

Did you know that a lot of famous and successful people were messy? Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, and even the great genius Albert Einstein.

A study by Kathleen Vohs, of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, found that a cluttered environment helps increase creativity.

“Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights,” she said. “Orderly environments, in contrast, encourage convention and playing it safe.”

3. You’re brave and spontaneous.

“Immaculate housekeepers swim against the current, while messy housekeepers simply go with the flow and float on the surface” said Haltiwanger. “They refuse to get dragged down with the bottom fish scrounging around for algae.”

Instead of worrying about minute details, messy people tend to focus on the big picture. They would rather focus all of their time and attention on the important task at hand than worry about other things. According to Haltiwanger, this makes them more adventurous and willing to take a leap, as opposed to organized people.

There’s nothing wrong with organization, but there’s nothing wrong with chaos either. Allow your messy environment to inspire you and try not to worry about cleaning it up now. Still, it’s important to maintain a balance between organization and chaos.

“There is simplicity and beauty in living a messy life, which is precisely why it produces such enlightened and innovative individuals,” he said.

…………………………..

I think my “Libra” sense of balance in life has kicked in more as I have gotten older. I could live and thrive in a chaotically messy house when I was younger. But now I take pride in keeping the house in a manageable tidy condition. I don’t like being embarrassed any more with a messy home.

For days I can let books and ideas pile up on the table next to my computer but suddenly one day I walk in and everything has to go. Immediately! My mind wants a clean slate to look at new ideas afresh.

Aren’t we always looking for that perfect balance in life? It is a hard odyssey to accomplish. “Life is a balancing act” as Dr. Seuss proclaimed. Let’s face it….life is, also, messy. There is no way to get around it.

By trying to keep an immaculate home and surround ourselves with organized appointment/activity notebooks, we are ultimately trying to control life. We will always fail…life is not about control.

“Disruption occurs so you can acquire a greater awareness of yourself and deal with life’s messes more consciously. Recognizing that everything is Divine allows you to stop judging situations as good or bad, and simply be with what is. In that space of acceptance, you can experience what you need experience and expand into more compassion, gratitude, and self-love.

Life is messy, but you always have a choice. You can cry over spilled milk, or you can grab a mop.”

(Source: “What to do When Life Gets Messy“Panache Desae)

So until tomorrow…When life gets messy, instead of letting it mess with your mind, simply “Be with what is.”

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Mollie and the boys have been in New Hampshire this past week-Walsh flew up last evening to join them for the weekend and all fly back together Monday. Mollie sent me some pictures of their activities from Santa Land Amusement Park to Billings Farm in Vermont with their Aunt Whitney who joined in the fun!!