A Good Mess

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” ~ Andy Rooney

I am a self professed neat freak. I aspire to live by the “everything has a place and everything in its place” rule. My mom says I’ve been this way for as long as she can remember. Before I could walk, I would pull myself up to standing on my toy shelf so that I could put my toys away.

It must be in the genes, my daughter is the same way. She enjoys sorting and organizing the toys as much as she enjoys playing with them.

While this tendency has many blessings, it also comes with some significant drawbacks. One of the most important ones is that I often fail to see the importance of some messes.

How about the mess in a kitchen after someone prepares a delicious meal? Or, the messy pile of boots, mittens, hats and wet clothes after some fun in the snow? And, as Andy Rooney points out, the mess in the living room on Christmas morning.

If my focus is solely on ensuring that everything has a place and everything is in that place, I’m likely to miss out on some of the most wonderful messes life has to offer.

This week, I’m going to go ahead and get messy! Join me, won’t you?

Are you a neat freak like me? Are you willing to invite some messiness into your life?