Thank You for Important Messy People

Some folks believe that cluttered desks and messy spaces are indicative of a spontaneous, over achieving person who accomplishes more when surrounded by chaos.

Einstien had a notoriously messy desk.

But that’s like saying a Zen monestary invites dullards and sloths.

I’m no Einstein.

Too much clutter inhibits my creative faculties.

Nor am I a Monk.

But I can concentrate better when my environment is clutter free.

Some people say “ I don’t have time to clean my house, I have too many other things to do with my time.”

I have seen this in action and believe it to be true.

Often that time is used looking for keys, trying to find a clean cup for their coffee, apologizing to guests for lack of available seating, moving things around to find other things they need, and mumbling I know it’s here somewhere while a friend is being held hostage, waiting for the book borrowed two weeks ago to be returned.

If that time was used to put things away instead of searching for them, would their lives run more smoothly?

Probably not.

I have a theory that these messy folks want to believe they are busier than the average person.

If you cleaned up their desk you would probably find only two or three things that were actually on one of their many to do lists, pasted all over the place.

But that messy desk gives the illusion that they are an Einstein.

Some overworked folks keep things messy as a visual reminder that they are not available for silly questions or superfluous errands.

It keeps the wolves of expectation at bay.

It also reinforces the notion that the messy person is very important in their busy-ness.

They have an important life to tend to.

In a culture where the average person takes on more than is humanly possible to accomplish, messiness is becoming more of a defense mechanism and justification to reject any more pending tasks.

It is a way of saying leave me alone for a minute, I am overwhelmed —see?

There was a time when one would be embarrassed by a lack of housekeeping skills.

This no longer applies in an era of working mothers and multiple jobs to keep up with the demands of modern living.

Not only is this attribute of modern living reflected in our personal lives, but it is also reflected in our larger home — Earth.

We don’t have time to clean up after ourselves, we’re too busy being important and over extended.

We have so much to cope with that we can’t possibly take the time to recycle, clean up a water supply, plant trees, put things back in their place, or clean house before future guests arrive.

We are all Einsteins and we are overwhelmed by our genius.

We are just that important.

What if there was a God and God looked like this?

Would we think he was a more important genius?

Would we stop pestering him because he looked overwhelmed and come back later to see what he invented?

Or would we say;

Look, Dude, you’re gonna need to clean house. We have a planet to tend to here, and your housekeeping skills have gone to Hell!

Advertisement

~ by leakelley on June 30, 2011.