flailing about

Is Order Overrated?

To me, there seems to be more potential in mess than in order. Mess spurs action…admittedly towards order…but I think a common un-useful idea is that once order is reached, mess will be permanently vanquished. The wonderful feeling of sitting in a room that you have just tidied does not last. The good intentions that immediately flood in of ‘always keeping it like this’ don’t hold (for most people) and within a week, I find myself going through the same motions. It is a cycle, it is impermanent. The thing is not to strive for permanent order but to ride the waves of mess gracefully and be open to where they might lead.

On a larger scale, having lived in ‘messy’ countries like Argentina and Colombia and ‘ordered’ countries like Germany and Australia, I must say that I found a joy and energy in the ‘mess’ that was wholly absent in the so called ‘developed’ countries. More order seems to breed less improvisation, a different kind of creativity, less need for community, more meaningless complications. Having grown up in a the UK, which claims to be ordered but is actually quite messy, perhaps this is just a cultural preference. It may also have something to do with my absolute abhorrence for pretentiousness…mess seems to breed less of this. There just isn’t the extra space for it.

‘Artful Mess’

Perhaps the level of mess that we can tolerate can be gauged by the type of environment we feel comfortable in. For me, houses that are too clean and tidy make me nervous because I feel like I should use a coaster and panic if there isn’t one. I also don’t understand where the ‘life’ happens. This is because I grew up in an ‘artful mess’ where every surface, vertical and horizontal, was covered with something beautiful, something intriguing…or dog hair. The ‘life’ was very evident in every corner. I didn’t realise how intentional this was until I tried to ‘order’ Mum’s kitchen. She complained that I had put too many similar things in the same place and immediately ‘un-ordered’ it.

Environments that are ‘unintentionally messy’ also make me uncomfortable because they get my judgy juices flowing. ‘Whoever lives here must have a messy mind’. Again, I don’t understand how life happens in between. However, maybe the ability to let go of a need for ordered surroundings is liberating? Perhaps the mind can focus on more important things?

What about nature?

For me, ‘artful mess’ feels closer to nature than ‘Ikea order’ or ‘Unintentional mess’. In wild places, the composition and arrangement of objects is so perfect. It gives me the same peace as sitting in a room that has been ‘artfully ordered’. A feeling of possibility remains. Everything feels ready for life… within reach. A system that balances function and beauty to ease relational flows…like in Nature. And it evolves. New ‘orders’ emerge as habits, movements and rhythms change. I like that…’emergent order’…no forcing, more listening, more potential.

Why do some people hide their washing up equipment away? A kitchen sink doesn’t look complete without washing up liquid and sponge by it’s side in the same way that a stream without plants and rocks looks bare and unnatural.

In this train of thought, I am now tempted to make a ‘thing’ out of ‘natural mess’ or some suchlike and start a trend like the decluttering one.

Mental Mess

While writing this, I am feeling frustrated because I cannot get my ideas in order and immediately produce a perfectly written article. I feel uncomfortable and impatient. A very familiar feeling that always comes up when things (or maybe just one small thing) feel uncertain and difficult and require a little more effort on my part to deal with. This is a very large percentage of my time. Is it worth it to feel this uneasy so much of the time??? I don’t think so. I have had a glimpse of something different. After my first Vipassana course, I managed to reach a state in which I embodied ‘stability within fluidity’ or just ‘accepting that life is messy’. Other than those few very peaceful months though, I generally clench everything until I find some kind of order…or many small kinds of order.

Oh no, my goal is order…this is the wrong goal! And those few months are my lived evidence. I know it but I can no longer live it…perhaps that is where the really harmful mess lies…in between what we know and what we do…hmmm, topic for another post I think.