Environment matters
In a follow up to yesterday, I do think that I am too hard on myself at times. I am doing well on my List, given the whole nearly 7 months pregnant thing.  I suspect that what makes me feel like I’ve accomplished less than reality is that while I am getting some things done, I am doing it in the midst of a home that is really a mess. There isn’t one room in my home that is clean and tidy, not one room that is really peaceful. It’s difficult to feel serene and to cultivate an attitude of gratitude while being surrounded by the lack of organization, the dirty dishes, the pile of laundry glaring at me from across the room, the kidlet’s fingerprints across the dusty TV screen, my desk top that is barely visible under the piles of papers, books, kidlet’s toys, and recipes. It’s hard to recognize that I’ve just spent 2 hours with my child fostering the attitudes in one of my more recent book purchases (The Creative Family), when I look away from the smiling face of my child, away from the pleasant clutter of paper clippings, glue smears, paint splotches around us and see the floor that needs mopping, the counters that need scrubbing, the trash that needs taken out.
I need to spend a little more time on those basics each day, aside from whatever project I am tackling in my Life Improvements. And hopefully the hubby can help me a little more with those daily basics as well. For today, I cleaned off my desktop. Looking past my desk — well, I won’t go there yet, but for this moment I have a small isle of clean.
I will have *way* more comments on this, but I have too much in my head to form into a cohesive thought at the moment. I know where you are at though, and I feel for you. Which is prompting this quick comment, have you ever heard of http://www.flylady.net? I found it years and years ago, and it’s amazing! Her site is not about housecleaning as it is about organizing your life in a way that makes the mundane easier to deal with. She has these awesome ways of helping you to declutter, clean, and organize. As you know, I have the ‘genes’ to be a HUGE clutterhound. Ones of the things that Flylady teaches about ‘stuff’ is to look at it and ask youself, is it needed? Does it make me smile? There are things I’ve held onto because I felt obligated to keep it. But it had no personal/emotional value to me. So I finally ‘decluttered’ them. It’s very freeing! I know you aren’t so much about stuff as some, but there are some amazing insights that I think you will find helpful. I don’t do the whole ‘program’, I just take bits & peices and work them into my life. Let me know what you think if you decide to check it out. (Or maybe you already have, lol)
You know, I have looked at flylady, altho it was a long time ago. All I remember offhand about the cleaning was getting a clean sink every day, lol. But she wants me to wear shoes all the time! I hate wearing shoes. I had trouble getting past that. Silly, I know!
lol, I know what you mean. However, I started to take the bits and pieces from there that worked for me. Like you, it was hard to get past the “here is how you do it” kind of thing, but I had to let that go and take what was useful for me & my life. And it actually made a huge difference. I swish & swipe my toilet fairly often instead of making cleaning the bathroom a huge event, that sort of thing. All the little steps made a huge difference. So then I go read more and take a few more things that are doable in my life. It all added up and makes that mundane housework stuff (blech!) much easier. 🙂