Finding the Beauty in the Mess

On some late afternoons, I find myself looking around at the various living spaces in our home and wondering how messes continually manifest throughout every area of our simple dwelling. I am certain that I include decluttering, organizing and general clean-up of our home in my daily routine. So then… where does all of this stuff come from? And, if it all has its own place in our home, why is it all so often spread out over every surface throughout every room?

Because ~ we live here.

We make use of the things we have. And young children have a more difficult time in fully understanding or appreciating the principles of concise organization and orderly spaces.

Putting things away is like working on an extravagant, three-dimensional puzzle. A puzzle that is a never-ending brain teaser. You get one step closer to thinking you have it solved and then… wow. There’s another random pile of kitchen items lying in this corner over here.

But, I want my kids to explore. I want my kids to be able to just BE and experience what it is to investigate their living environment. I want them to have the opportunity to feel the presence of these materials items we have chosen to become a reflection of our inner selves.

I also want my kids to learn the importance of organizing one’s space and respecting one’s belongings. So ~ sometimes my perspective on the mess shifts towards a more urgent need to clean things up and make an orderly sense out of our living spaces.

It is a back and forth kind of dance — this relationship with material items, the messes they can become and how we relate to the messes. I see evidence of my younger daughter’s developmental need to gather, sort, deconstruct and move objects from one place to another in these scattered messes. I see affirmation of my older daughter’s love for her books and toys when I go into her room and notice that her things are spread all over her bed and desk.

A lot of the messes are actually my own. I find proof of my creative energy and desire to learn in my paints and brushes, books and papers that lie scattered across the kitchen table and counters.

These messes are made because these children, along with myself, are living here. We are interacting with our environment and developing and maintaining relationships with the tangible aspect of our beings.

So yes, a mess can be a beautiful thing. I suppose it all comes down to what frame of mind I carry within myself on any given day. Or how I choose to respond to how the objects around me are arranged, whether neat and tidy or in complete disarray.

No matter what perspective I see the mess from, however, I will continue to do my best to be at peace with the clutter.