Years of therapy later, I came to realize that my mother liked cleanliness and order because it was about her dual allies: structure and control of emotions. I'm able to express my emotions (yes, you're saying to yourself, I read this blog and know that you are a persistent over-sharer). Even so, in my own life, cleaning has served the purpose of permitting me to manage my anxieties in a mostly functional fashion. In the last week, with my son away and out of contact with me, I have been a cleaning machine. My usual cleaning tasks were dispatched with efficiency and then I turned my attention to other matters. It's a very efficient way to keep my demons and anxieties at bay. And the end result is a tidy home.
First target: the kitchen pantry. Here's how it looked before.
And then I worked on my most challenging task yet: the large (and very full) bookshelf in the study. The before photo says a lot, mostly that I have delayed this task for far, far too long. Also, in a more promising interpretation, that I like to read.
By the way, the nice people at Blogger report to me that this is my 1100th post. I had no idea I'd produced quite that much drivel in the last three and a half years.
Update: Nichole is right...I have a grits problem. But when you mix a cup of cooked grits with a cup or two of grated cheddar cheese and a few chopped pickled jalopenos and then bake the lot in the oven for 20 minutes, then you will understand why I love the grits.
2 comments:
My goodness, how much grits do you eat?? You have a grits shelf in that pantry. I guess I never really developed a taste for them no matter how much butter and/or sugar is in there.
Very impressive. Does JT go in for the grits?
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