Messies are Creative

I am going to take control of my life. What that means is that I'm going to control the mess in my home and not let it control me. A few days ago I was reading one of my favorite blogs and she had a whole post about cleaning and what she does to control it. I'm a fan of natural cleaning and I try to only use natural products when I do get around to cleaning. It's nice to have so many alternatives to traditional chemicals. They smell fresher and I'm not worried about ingesting or inhaling the smells while I'm in such close contact to dirty surfaces. I read some of the comments that people left on this particular post and was pleased to discover some books about being messy. I know that books about organization are out there as I've worked for a bookstore before, but I never paid any attention to them. I remember the Home section being one of my favorites while everyone I knew despised it. A part from that though I find the allure of being able to make something messy clean again very appealing. The book that I discovered and purchased is called The Messies Manual: A Complete Guide to Bringing Order to Your Home.

This is a very eye opening book for me. This book identifies my problems with messiness so that I can change my way of thinking to keep a better home. It might sound a bit fubar, but this book is all about me! For some people cleaning and house keeping is a natural part of who they are and for some of us, like myself, it is ALWAYS a struggle. It's not that I enjoy being messy or that I don't know how to clean, but the way that I go about doing it inhibits my progress of maintaining it. I'm going to identify a few things for you so you know where I'm coming from.

I'm considered a "Perfectionis Messie" and a "Clean Messie". I find it difficult to start a task because I want it to be perfect, but in deciding how I want to approach it, I never start the cleaning to begin with. So in that sense it just sits there the way it has always been looking grimy. The second part is that when I actually do clean, I only half complete things. If I do laundry I feel good about it because at least I have clean laundry, but it may not be folded and put away. Just like dishes, they may be washed and out on the counter and that's what counts in my head. So I've identified what stops me from achieving my goal of a clean home, but moving forward is difficult. The bottom line is that after starting to read this book I feel like I can finally understand how to control the mess!
I finally started some more dishes yesterday. Feels good, too.

I discovered two other books that I would like to buy some other day that will help in controlling this horrendousness I live in.
*Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House
*Better Basics for the Home

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As I was browsing in Borders yesterday, I came across some magazines that I found appealing. I am, as you know attracted to all things earth friendly and these titles caught my eye. I have no idea how long they've been around, but I like the idea of them.

*Simply Handmade (apparently hasn't been published in awhile)
* Green Craft Magazine (I can't find this one online. This was the most appealing as the ink, paper, and look of the magazine was recycled. No glossy pictures and all matte.)
*Altered Couture
* Ready Made (Okay, not new to me, but I love it anyway)

Thanks for stopping by!