Ruminations and Ramifications

everything in its place

So many times I have looked around this apartment and felt nothing but dismay and stress. Stuff. There was constantly stuff everywhere. And I never seemed to find a proper place for much of it. I kept coming back to "Do I have too much? I'm going to need this or that again, but where do I put it??? Do I need a bigger place?"

This has gone on for years.

And then, I discovered STORAGE FURNITURE.

See, A) I don't shop for things and B) I don't like to keep things around. I felt guilty with my wire shelf "impulse buy" this morning, but the closet contents are not threatening to open the door and overtake my apartment anymore.

I am borderline ascetic. But we'll go there another time.

So, it all started with IKEA. Last year, I bought some high-stacking shelves for the living room. My coworkers helped me carry them out of the store and drive them home and assemble them. And they worked so well... they weaned me into the realm of "you, too, can own furniture, Marcia!"

This winter, things have gotten to the "squeeze" point. Things were tumbling all over each other in the closet. Ironically, the architect looked at the mess, and thought "now, why doesn't this look right?" Somehow or another I found myself at the website of the Container Store, and I never looked back.

I'm raising the bed so I can FINALLY more appropriately store bins that are fighting my pants for room in the closet. I bought stacking wire shelves at Target to make better use of the two shelves in my hall closet, and the almost three feet of clearance between the closet shelves and the ceiling. I even bought another set of stacking (not according to the manufacturer, however) shelves from IKEA for the living room. Baskets and low shelves for the closets to keep things off the floor. Stacking plastic drawers for the closets and cabinets. I take the old concept of "built-ins" to a whole new rearrangeable level.

I stepped back to look at the last few projects I have left, and thought "wow, this feels good to have a place for everything." When it hit me: Order. Order is really important. Where there is no order, no matter how good the intentions, chaos will always be lurking. I used to think it was rather silly and frivolous to feel so good about having ordered something. But what is it about order that sets us upright and on our way? What is it about order, even if it's just making better use of closet space, that makes us feel more disciplined, or that makes discipline feel more achievable? What is it about disorder that weighs the spirit down? I'm sure there is a spiritual implication here, but I just can't seem to put my finger on it.

This is all coming right in time for my test in a month. Having the apartment neat, orderly, will give me that clarity of mind needed to concentrate and perform well. It will certainly keep distractions away as I continue my Bible study and Scripture memorization. I'm looking forward to see how great the benefit is.

posted by Marcian @ 3:32 PM