Tuesday, July 14, 2015

In Praise of mess

As many of you know I don't like to clean. I find it tiring and frustrating. 
But I have always felt bad about having a messy house.  I have felt that somehow I was less virtuous or less deserving then other people because of my mess.

 This became more obvious when we moved. I had this beautiful big house of my dreams but I could not keep it picture perfect.  I remember thinking "it is not fair that I have this house when neater more organized people are living in apartments"

But you know what?  Lately I have started to question these thoughts.  Don't get me wrong, I still think there is a lot of good in cleanliness and organization. But I might have some virtues in my mess.

Two different friends on two different occasions have commented that they could learn from my relaxed ways. And these are amazing successful woman and loving mothers who, truth be told, I am a little intimated by. They always seem to have it all together.  But I kind of see what they might be getting at.

Yes my house is a mess and I am frequently found chopping vegetables with my cutting board balanced on top of three dirty plates of various sizes. But I also let my kids walk barefoot in the mud because it feels good. We spend our evenings playing  cards as a family in a messy kitchen . And I would way rather dig in the garden with our four year old then do laundry. 

Ok, this means that my kids always wear miss matched socks but I does not bother me. To be honest I think it looks kind of cool. My kids are often seen around town with breakfast still smeared on their face. 
But on the other hand my kids are not afraid to play and get messy. They make amazing creations in the back yard or their rooms. And my oldest just make milk shakes for his siblings in the new blender all by his self. (He asked permission, but was not worried about making a mess and neither was I)

Lots of times I am frustrated this my messy ways but I can see that sometimes the mess is part of a fun-loving, creative, relaxed family. Maybe I have a gift under all this laundry. A gift of remembering what is really important and not getting upset by the small stuff.

So next time we are all out on the town and I notice that one of us is still in their P.J.'s and another has two different shoes on I will remember that creative energy has its price.

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