Posted by dove on January 6, 2000, at 8:43:24
In reply to Re: Noa's quest for a clean home, posted by juniper on January 6, 2000, at 3:18:36
Good morning Noa!
I relate completely to the mess/lair thing, and before I was married w/ children, I kept my apartment in such a state, oi-vay. My best friend of 15 years grew up in a home just like my own, and was more than willing to help me clean and was/is completely nonjudgemental. She is also a clean-freak and was totally unfazed by a mess that completely overwhelmed me.
I also find my house kinda empty and almost lonesome when it's all neat and clean. I feel better about people stopping by, or all the kids in the neighborhood stamping through the house, but in some ways it's actually harder. I feel this internal spring winding tighter and tighter, partly due to the fact that I cannot keep the house perfect with all the people going in and out. In addition, I know that tomorrow is another day, and I'll have to clean all this stuff up allover again. And when the house is in order, it doesn't feel usable by me. I don't want to start a project, paint, or draw, it seems off limits almost. It's like the house is for everyone else and I'll just make it a chaotic mess.
I don't want to discourage you :-) really. I was jsut talking out some of my own demons relating to the messy/chaotic/lair that in many ways protects me while playing wicked games with my mind. One thing, one day at a time, and one ten-minute clean-up at a time. My best friend always told me to view the big mess as a conglomerate, the little messes form the one big one. So, if you only take care of one little one, that one is still done, whether the effects are immediately identifiable when looking ta the "big picture". So, start small, and don't listen to the voice that says you didn't do enough, failure does not apply to cleaning :-) There will always be one more thing to clean, so we, messy housekeepers, just have to try for doing something rather than nothing. Happy energetic vibes being sent to all housecleaners :-)
dove
poster:dove
thread:17848
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000101/msgs/18194.html