I feel uncomfortably, that I am probably one of the greatest slobs / messy / untidy / disorganised livers-of-life, in history. I’m male – have never married, and have lived essentially alone, in various contexts / circumstances, for most of my life (which mode of living, I find suits me).
It would seem that I’m one of the relatively few humans, from whose make-up the “householder / homemaker” gene was completely omitted. I couldn’t care less about living in a spick-and-span home; especially, with having at bottom, only myself to please (people rarely visit me; when they do, I – depending on circumstances – do a “pseudo-tidy-up”; or know that they don’t have a problem with my messy ways). Find that I have a great deal of more interesting stuff to do, than anything involving any kind of housekeeping.
I basically just put / leave things in my dwelling, wherever they land up. I find that this has a downside, in that often when I want a particular item – I can’t find it: have either buried it under other stuff, or put it heaven-knows-where. This is quite often, annoying and frustrating, and can need irritating work-arounds. For me personally, though – I mostly find the alternative, worse. I utterly hate housework / tidying-up / putting-away. I get incensed over doing such stuff.
The picture is got, that this is a deep-seated human thing – partaking in “original sin”, should that be part of one’s world-view. If there’s one thing that little kids hate and loathe, it’s having to put away the stuff that they’ve been enjoying playing with. For many people: they need to be trained from infancy, into nevertheless doing the (however deeply hated) putting-away thing. The maxim “a place for everything, and everything in its place” – the good sense in which, I can thoroughly “see with my head” – is often, one gathers, drilled into small children by their parents or other caregivers, from a very young age: it doesn’t come naturally. (As will be obvious, I wasn’t drilled in it as a kid.) The more-tidy end of this way of doing things – as said, intellectually I can see how it makes sense; but my gut tells me, “this endless futile dance of put-it-away-take-it-out-again-immidiately-put-it-away-again-take-it-out-again – AAAUUUGHHH !!! it makes me want to yell and scream and commit physical violence on myself”.
There plainly are people who get an actual positive “buzz” out of having things neat and tidy. My brother – between whom and myself, there are mutually very affectionate relations – is one such. As regards the “neatnik / slob” divide, though – he and I are, I think, even further apart than the two guys in the film The Odd Couple. It might come about that at some time in the future, he and I could be sharing accommodation – which would basically be his; I am on notice from him that in this situation, it would be “his place, his rules”. Should that situation come about – I see my needing to check myself into a brainwashing facility in North Korea, for a spell whose purpose would be making me over into “tidy”.
Would be interested to hear anyone’s thoughts on this matter – from those toward the “neatnik”, or “slob”, ends, or anywhere in between.
