A couple of years ago, my significant other and I were
making our initial “introductory rounds” (ie: meeting each other’s family for
the first time) and decided, while we were in the neighbourhood, to drop in on
one of his couples friends. While the pair was/is lovely and we got along just
swimmingly, there’s no lighter way to phrase it: I was appalled by the state in
which they kept their living quarters.
In their defense, I will say they were not expecting our
company. However, I could not then and still cannot now understand how anyone
could possibly tolerate living with clearly visible dirt and debris. The icing
on the cake was the fact that their house had seen such neglect from upkeep
that one of their children’s pets – a goldfish – was floating bellyside up in a
fish bowl, apparently unbeknownst to them.
After this incident, it began to come to my attention just
how UNcommon this situation among our demographic is. The more I got invited
over to my own friends’ houses, the more I realized that tidiness does not seem
to be a universally embraced ideal.
At the risk of sounding like a germaphobe, admittedly I was
and continue to be shocked by this notion given that I’m frankly embarrassed to
invite over company if my home has not been cleaned the week of. Furthermore if
my mom, for instance, is coming to town, I will clean every inch of my
apartment so thoroughly that it’d be fit for the arrival of the Queen herself
and should she so choose, she could eat off the floors without any fear of
adverse physical reaction!
Aside from the obvious health benefits to living in a “dust
bunny”-free environment, how one maintains or fails to maintain one’s personal
habitat will affect how others view your character and even your sense of
morality! Did you know, for example, that the original Oxford English Dictionary definition of the term “slut” was “a
slovenly, untidy woman or girl”?
According to environmental psychologist Sally Augustin, “cleanliness”,
throughout our evolutionary history, was considered a valued trait given that a
home free of clutter would make it easier to spot potential predator attacks. While
this benefit may no longer be applicable in modern society, it does have an
unconscious psychological holdover: when one enters a messy living space – whether
it’s their own or you’re a visitor – it results in enhanced stress levels.
A lack of upkeep in regard to one’s physicality and/or the
physical spaces he/she occupies too has been linked to the mood disorder depression.
Among other symptoms, depression has been known to have a debilitating effect
on many of one’s motivations. With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that
counsellors often recommend “cleaning house” as a means of elevating one’s
mood. After all, the messier one’s house gets, the more it adds to one’s guilt
and merely continues the cycle of “not-good-enough-ness”.
As Jennifer B. Baxt explains, “taking the time to clean the
home from top to bottom is like cleaning [out] one's life. The dirt, dust and
clutter are done away with and the house has a fresher, more comfortable
atmosphere that the person can feel happier and more relaxed in.”
To this, Ayanna Guyhto adds that it’s the whole concept of
“Idle Hands, Idle Mind”: “by remaining sedentary, it gives your brain too much
time to focus on the things that are bothering you. By getting up and focusing
your attention on household tasks, you give yourself a mental diversion.”
Let’s just stop there for a second however to make one point
very clear: it’s highly unreasonable to suggest (and by no means am I
suggesting!) that EVERY individual who seemingly is not too concerned with the
condition of their home is suffering from the “Big D”. Clearly there must be
something else here at play. Wouldn’t you know it? Psychology again proves
illustrative.
Believe it or not laziness is a modern “invention”, largely
due to the comforts (and excesses!) of Western industrialized living. Despite
our incessant complaints and excuses which would suggest otherwise, apparently
we do have TOO much time on our hands and this, in effect results in the
rearing of laziness’ ugly twin brother’s head: procrastination.
As evolutionary psychologist Nando Pelusi points out, it
wasn’t until we no longer had to worry about constantly fending off
predators, protecting our kin or surviving off of scarce resources that we had
the “luxury” of dreaming of future actions. In the past, we held our energy in
reserve because we never knew when an immediate threat may be looming.
Nowadays, all that energy has the ability to build up, tricking us into
believing (at least on an unconscious level) that there will always be more time
to “get around to things.”
Given the multitude of distractions available to
occupy our time – the Facebooks, Twitters, and Youtubes of the world, for
starters – it isn’t hard to see why so many of us have lost sight of how to
properly “prioritize”…but more on that in another issue.
The point I’m trying to get at is quite simply: while
“cleanliness” may not necessarily be next to “godliness”, it certainly is
linked to “goodliness”…on many levels. In other words, my “neat-freakness” is
indicative of the fact I take great pride in appearances, value the idea of
hospitality, see my home as a reflection of my own work ethic, and perhaps most
importantly that I am within a balanced mental state. So I ask you all to ask
yourselves, “what does YOUR home say about YOU?” Is it time for yet more
introspection? Methinks so.
No comments:
Post a Comment