Week 8: Be a Clean Person

This is not a goal I could possibly achieve in one week of my life. But, it's been something I've wanted to be for a really, really long time. I think I made some major strides this week.

I am a historically very messy person. Over the years, I've realized that I just don't care enough to pay attention to putting things away. Am I 5? Seriously...why can't I just put things back? This is the week I decided to put more effort to this area of my life.

I can now proudly say that I put things in their places this week like a "clean" person would. It felt good. I did a major cleaning of the (downstairs part of the) house last Saturday and have maintained it since then. There's really quite a relief in the air- knowing that I don't need to majorly clean downstairs again anytime soon because I've kept up with it all week. I've maybe spent 15 minutes a night tidying up. That's much better than 6-7 hours on a Saturday.

I typically clean the house and keep it clean for 1.5 days, so this really did feel like success since our (downstairs part of the) house is still clean.

I'm hoping to attack the upstairs this weekend. Small steps, small steps. With each part of the house that I clean, I'm aiming to keep it that way for good. The upstairs is a nightmare so it's going to take some major cleaning out before it can be added to my keeping tidy plan.

When I was thinking about this post, it felt strange because big things are happening in the world. And ultimately, who cares if I change from a messy to clean person? Probably no one but me and maybe my husband. But, I think, for me, achieving goals like this makes me feel a little bit at peace, at least within me. Sometimes the world is so hectic/crazy/scary that it's nice to feel a small semblance of control. Since I've started this blog project, each week I've felt that small sense of peace at what I've accomplished. I believe that a big part of life is finding peace within yourself - however that can happen for you (assuming you don't hurt anyone in the process). I don't claim to know solutions to the world's problems, but it makes sense that if people, in general, were more at peace with themselves we wouldn't find so much.

My contribution to larger society is my day job. I work 40+ hours a week to help people and maybe it's selfish to say it's a contribution because I genuinely love my job. But it is focused on other people. So, I guess I need to remind myself that it's ok that I focus one weekly project on making myself feel peaceful, even if it may seem silly, even to me when I think about the world's big picture.