New blog start: Take 2
I am working on a writing project with a local business man. We were talking about the topic of passion. He is very passionate about his business. He was trying to come up with some different examples of things people are passionate about. He tried this one on me, "You know, like when you clean your house and get into it you are so passionate about it looking great that you even go back and do little touch ups here and there."
I'm not a good liar, nor do I aspire to be, so I had to break it to him that I couldn't relate.
I am not passionate about cleaning. I think my response was "I would be passionate about being able to afford someone else to clean for me."
This conversation carried on into my evening night out with some girlfriends. Most of them said they really love to keep things clean and orderly and get frustrated when their spouses drop things on the floor.
Why do I not possess this gene???
Part of it (no offense to my mother or grandmother) must come from childhood. I never had chores. But I'm not sure that quite explains it. I just really hate cleaning. Certainly I love a clean space. But finding joy in the cleaning? I can't fathom it. Maybe I should start praying that God would grant me joy in this inevitable task of life, because it certainly isn't springing up from own flesh. If I were single, I seriously probably would have an incredibly messy apartment (I also wouldn't own a house if I were single, but that's a post for another day).
Thankfully, I have a husband who doesn't appreciate a messy house so it motivates me to try to keep it somewhat clean. But I can seriously say that I have never just cleaned something because I wanted it clean. Never in my 30 years of life. I have only cleaned out of obligation or duty or to keep fruit flies at bay.
One of my friends said last night that I should embrace my feelings about cleaning because to be otherwise is stressful in its own right. Maybe she's right?
I do want my kids to learn the habit of cleaning and tidying up, so I do put more emphasis on it now. I'm not sure any crazy little schedules or routines will do anything but make me more stressed about it (believe me if there was a repository of trash with my name on it, you would find several wadded up spreadsheets with "Daily chores" gracing the top). This is probably just an area that I need to surrender to God and let Him motivate me in because man-made ideas aren't doing much to make me get up and clean for this Derby party we are having tomorrow ... in fact, i am avoiding it so much that I starting blogging after a year's absence.
Whew. That feels better. I guess I'll go clean something.
