We all have a stereotypical definition of what clean is, but when it comes to your own cleaning, the definition changes. Some people prefer to have everything organized, color-coded, and straight. Meanwhile, others prefer organized chaos or what they define clean. I used to believe that everyone’s upbringing, mental state, and personality defines their cleanliness. While these do play into it, I have noticed this is not always the case. Two types of clean I have interacted with are what I like to call the “Neat Freak” and “Organized Chaos.”
I consider myself a ‘neat freak’. I have a very organized room, and it is put together most of the time. I inherited Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) from my parents. OCD is way more serious than just color coding and organizing. It is something people like myself struggle with. For example, when I shower I have to wait until the time ends with a 5 or 0 or something bad will happen. Every night on my way to bed, I walk past the front door and I have to turn the doorknob or my mind tells me something awful will happen. I am still one of those people who like colors to match and everything to be organized, but I think that’s my personality and OCD playing a role. One thing I have noticed is that if I am feeling upset, stressed, or anxious, I begin to clean. When my clean is disrupted, I get very angry and distressed, and I have said some very hurtful things just because my room is messy. I absolutely can’t stand it when my room is out of place and there are things on the floor. My sister on the other hand could care less about what’s in the middle of the room.
My sister has a very different version of clean than me. I call her clean ‘organized chaos.’ She can leave piles around her house and know exactly where everything is. Her home isn’t necessarily “dirty” and she still sweeps, mops, vacuums and cleans like that. She just has a system that works for her. She doesn’t mind that the inside of her cabinets are full of different things. The little things don’t matter as much to her as much as they would to a “neat freak.” I noticed that when my sister goes through a rough time, she lets her house get to a really bad point. She would come home from work and feel awful and stressed, and then feel even worse when her house is a mess, but she had no energy to fix it. She would just leave the mess until she could deal with it.
Living with my sister has helped me realize that everyone is different regardless if they were raised by the same parents. Everyone has their own kind of clean, and should not be judged for not being clean enough.
