A Sure Sign

I’m not the neatest person on the planet. What? You don’t believe that?! I once read an article saying that being messy is a good sign of creativity—I’ve just rolled with that idea ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a slob. I like things clean and I love things to be neat. I despise knick knacks and clutter (mostly because I feel it’s working against my messiness-handicap!). It’s common for me to clean out my closets and purge things on a regular basis—and then I realize later that I wasn’t quite ready to part with x,y, or z yet (just ask my mom how many times I’ve given her hand-me-downs and then later taken them back!).

I use this slightly messy nature of mine as an indicator of my own wellness.  If I can’t at least keep it under control (i.e. the mess to a minimum), then I need to take a look at what is going on in my life that’s throwing me off.  Sometimes it’s stress, and other times it’s that I’ve been slacking in a certain area (usually the gym).  I’ve found that when one thing goes downhill, my messiness is multiplied.

Today, my apartment is a mess. I am ashamed to admit this, but on Saturday I spilled some dirt on my carpet near the windows (ok, I’m blaming it on the fact that the microgreens outgrew their container and pushed the dirt onto the floor), and I haven’t cleaned it up yet. I also unloaded a closet’s contents onto the floor with the intention of sorting and pitching…and then left it there.

My self-diagnosis:

Too busy with work and not busy enough with fun

I’m going to do something about this.

But, the fact that I made this connection based on my messiness made me think that other people might have their own Wellness Meter. When an area of your wellness goes south, what are the signals you can look for in your life?  I think if we begin here, and just recognize what is going on, we may be better equipped to handle our slip-ups and areas of neglect before it turns into a crisis.