I printed out a quote that said, "Women with clean houses do not have finished books." I think Joy Held said it, although I'm not quite sure who that is. But she is right. My house isn't anywhere close to being spotless. I've tried to tell myself that it just doesn't matter if there are sprinkles on the floor from my daughter's birthday cupcake decorating, or that the kitchen table is overflowing with odds and ends, or that my living room is really just my daughter's big play room.
I couldn't take it last night, though. I can only live with a mess so long before I must do something about it. So I put down my manuscript and got to work. And really, it only took me about twenty minutes or so to get everything to a level that I could live with. I vacuumed, threw away a bunch of stuff I didn't need, and managed to make the house liveable again.
Once again, balance comes to mind. I find so many things in my life require balance. Spending time with my daughter vs. working on my novel...I can't cut out either, so I must balance the two so that my daughter is happy and I am happy. A clean house vs. a messy house - when it gets too bad, the creative juices are interrupted by my brain demanding I go and clean.
So maybe I'll make a bit of a change to Joy Held's quote. How about this: "Women with pristine houses do not have finished books." :-)
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All right. Enough with the down-in-the dumps posts. I realized that I had way too many of them in the past few weeks and I am bumming myself...
I know exactly what you mean. I don't need a sparkling clean house but I can't write in a mess either.
ReplyDeleteMess? What mess? Michelle lifts her head from the keyboard.
ReplyDelete(grins)
I'm a clean freak. I can't stand clutter or mess. But when I'm writing and working full time, something has to give. I just try not to look at the mess until I know I have time to clean it. I find just grabbing a few minutes here and there helps me keep on top of it, and then once two months I go ballistic and clean from top to bottom.
ReplyDeleteI clean the desk when the avalanches start. I keep the important stuff done, like kitchen and bathroom, but why disturb the dust - it's not hurting anyone. *gg*
ReplyDeleteI can live with that. I can't clean all the time but I hate clutter and dirt. Friday I'll need to really attack the place :)
ReplyDeleteI have neither a clean house or a finished ms. Yet. I'm working on the ms. *g*
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