November 21, 2009
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why people clean
Often people suppose that when they see a mess that something is wrong. They assume that the person making the mess is missing something or is pyschologically unstable or overly lazy or incompetent whereas the person who keeps things clean is more well adjusted and “normal”.
I would like to propose a different theory.
I believe that for some people, people like me that is, cleaning is something that we do whenever we do it when we need a renewed sense of control. Why? Because cleaning is something you can fix. When the whole world is topsy turvy and nothing seems to go right and everything is hard and problem after problem after problem arises and no matter what you do, you can’t fix it, at least not right away and not in any easy fashion, it’s nice to know that cleaning is task you absolutely can succeed in. It might be easy or it might be hard, but it most certainly IS doable. It’s a certain number of systematic steps. You don’t have to wonder. You don’t have to doubt yourself. You can just clean.
So then for us, letting things get messy is a sign that we’re MORE stable. Not a lot is weighing on our minds so we feel no urge to clean things up. We just let things go. And indeed there may even be, most probably IS, a part of ourselves that is subconsciously letting things get messier as a sort of early preparation. We suspect or fear that inevitably there will come a time when we lose our sense of control and we’ll need that grounding stabilizing period of cleaning as anchor from which we can put ourselves back on track.
How about you? Are you like me who cleans during bad times and messes things up when times are good? Or are you one of those who cleans during the good times and only lets things get messy when everything is going downhill?
Comments (10)
A little messiness is a sign that I feel pretty comfortable. But the messier things get, the more depressed I am. I just can’t bring myself to do anything constructive.
I clean a lot regardless, but it’s worse when I’m stressed. But I’m just worse in general when I’m stressed, like I don’t eat or sleep or anything like I should
I like things relatively clean. I don’t like it getting out of control. I’ve done a lot of cleaning the last couple days!
I like to clean things on a consistent basis. Clean dishes so no ants swarm the kitchens. Clean my desk so I can find things later. Organize my papers so I don’t lose crap. I’m not sure if this correlates with stability.
When I do clean out of schedule, it’s cuz of stress. It’s a great way to exert energy and be productive at the same time. It’s just a diversion from the unhappy stuff.
Interesting theory. ^^
Yeah. It takes an odd compulsion (or rare discipline) to clean-as-habit.
Cleaning for me is a renewal. ^_^ (At the very least– a desperate attempt at one)
I’m one of those guys who cleans when I can’t find something I’m especially attached to.
I agree with this point!!
oc… i have a roommate who cleans a lot… im a mess… you make a good argument…
im sure being a clean freak does reflect one’s desire for control.. 
I tend to like keeping the areas around me clean and organized to avoid stressing as much when I need to find something. However when I let things get a little messy it doesn’t bother me. There is a difference between messy (cluttered in my case) and dirty.
I do notice when I am angry or upset the first thing I start doing is the dishes though lol. If I haven’t calmed down after that… usually I will start to clean everything top to bottom.
I think a lot of it does come down to control as you stated,
I view cleaning as something that must be done but generally is a tremendous waste of time. I don’t want to look back on my life and have spent half of it cleaning. I try to simply keep things neat so I don’t have any real cleaning to do. I don’t think cleaning is connected to my emotional state.