by .pst

I got a call from my boss when I was out of town at a conference.  He was sitting down at my desk and trying to access something with my login.  When my “desktop” came up, he remarked at how “messy” it was.  It’s really not – it’s organized how I understand it, because it’s not used by anyone else, and I know where everything is located.

The Man has problems with my “messiness” as well, and that’s just how it is.  He is a super neat-freak who has a place for everything and everything is in its place.  He gets upset when a receipt is left on the counter, but he is learning to curb it now that he is sharing living space with me. “I used to be much worse,” he often remarks to me, and I think, “How is that even possible??”

But, I too, have curbed my messiness because I am now sharing space with him.  I live in a neater bedroom than I ever have in my life, as my mom can probably attest.  She used to some in my room periodically and threaten to throw everything on the floor into a garbage bag to be thrown out so that I would clean it up, and I, in turn, used to shove it all into my closet so she would leave me alone.

I must clarify that by messy, I do not mean dirty.

But it bothers me that “messy” is still such a bad thing.  I think it’s a personality trait and organizational style rather than any reflection on a person’s work ethic, as years of societal and motherly admonitions would have you believe.  I do not need others looking down on me because I am not as neat as they would have me be.  It obviously works for me, because I haven’t changed in all my years on the planet.

And apparently, being messy is a sign of a creative mind, not something I would disagree with, nor be ashamed of.  I think we “messy” ones need to be cut some slack, and be allowed to keep our own personal spaces as we wish without fear of being reprimanded or looked down upon.  Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s wrong.