Maddenation
Saying Yes to Mess
Albert Einstein said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” I get made fun of fairly often for having a somewhat/sometimes messy desk. A recent article in the NYT says that messiness is a sign of creativity and intelligence. That’s right Mom (and coworkers)! Saying Yes to Mess is pretty interesting, and seeing as we are all kind of messy (I know that my room is always a mess, as is Dan’s), I think you should read it. The article is timely for me, seeing as I was going to stop by the container store today to pick up some ‘containers’ to help me organize my room. I decided not to. Good for me. It’s funny, I’d like to be neater, of course, but I certainly do not want to be a ‘neat person’. No way. The article also mentions how the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, never makes a daily schedule. Now there’s a difference between Pat and me - I hate scheduling stuff and couldn’t stand my Franklin Covey daily planner when I had one. It about killed me.
Also of interest - discussion on marital differences in neatness, the costs of being neat (takes time, effort), the book A Perfect Mess: the Hidden Benefits of Disorder.
David • Observations • 12/28/06 • 2 comments
Comments
David • 12/28/06 • 11:16 PM:Here’s a related article with some clever terms - The Secret Order of Disorder.
Dad • 12/29/06 • 2:00 PM:I’m a cyclical mess guy.
I once read that people who are tollerant of messiness are better at adapting to long, close-quartered assignments in Antarctica. Since I always thought a research trip to Antarctica would be cool, I never tried to “cure” myself of messy behavior.
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