I hate cleaning. I really hate it. But in an inverse relationship to my hatred of cleaning is my love of going out to dinner. In order to finance this habit, I have decided to let go of the dream I had when I imagined my big city life- the cleaning person. I know that my Mom and her best friend both have daughters that have had cleaning people and recently let them go. I know it blows their mind that their daughters, who "learned at the knee of masters", as Mom says, don't take pleasure and pride in cleaning. But I don't. I still hate it. And the person we had was great. It was nice. So nice. So so nice.
Still having trouble letting this go.
But, I love me my dinners out. So, in an effort to make my Mom proud and truly EMBRACE the clean house, I reread a book my sis gave me when I lived in a tiny studio apartment- "Organizing From the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern.
It's a simple concept, but one that doesn't seem to happen naturally: Don't fight your habits and try to have the system that you THINK you should have. For example, if you sort all your mail at the dining room table, don't build a mail system that's two rooms away- make it near that spot. I did this in the house over MLK weekend, and I'm here to report that the solid and top to bottom closet reorganization, the mail center, and laundry room re-org are STILL WORKING weeks later. And our city apartment with not much closet space seems to have plenty of space. Kind of liberating, actually. I guess Mom was right- cleaning can make you happy.
Or a nice steak dinner after that cleaning can make you happier.
1 comment:
I knew you could do it if the "carrot" was big enough!!! Love, Yo Mama
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