Month: June 2011

Dear Friends in Christ,

Have you ever noticed that it is easier to organize someone else’s space than your own? I remember when I was in college, I needed a part-time job. I had formerly worked in a customer-service role, and was eager to find something that didn’t require being in front of dozens of people every day. After all, I interacted with people at school all day, and wanted to be able to do some work by myself. I applied for a position cleaning someone’s private home, and was accepted. The pay was quite good, and I could perform my work quietly. When I told my parents and other people who knew me well, however, a general look of surprise came over their faces, because I was generally unable to keep my room straight my whole childhood and collegiate life!

Going through someone else’s home and cleaning just wasn’t as hard as and cleaning my own home. I would go in and basically follow a list of tasks. I was not emotionally invested in anything there (although I did stop to read some books during breaks…), and so it was not hard to go in and get the job done. With my own room, however, I was confronted with having to think hard about what to do with things, where to put them, whether to keep them at all. The choice was sometimes daunting, and I was always one step behind, it felt.

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