As much as I’m also aware of how cleanliness and organization do lift our spirits, I’m surprised to think at this moment about how much both my wife and I sometimes let things slide. Making the bed, doing the dishes, sweeping the floor. Easy tasks really that only take a couple mintues.

We’re probably distracted by things like the internet!

“It means conceding that we are inconveniently vulnerable to the colour of our wallpaper and that our sense of purpose may be derailed by an unfortunate bedspread.”

That’s really well said.

It’s interesting for me to note how much better our family feels and how our mood is lifted just by a tidy house. Our surroundings do effect our outlook.

I don’t believe we should be inordinately attached to “things”, but if one is going to make a chair, or a pot or something, there is really no excuse for doing it in a shoddy or cheap way that screams “not worth the trouble”.

It occurs to me that we have the same problem with our family homes that we have with restaurant meals… way too much emphasis on quantity over quality. Our homes are bigger (on average) than ever, but they are generic, uninspiring, not well proportioned or or homey.

Our house has that problem. It’s plenty big, but has no soul. It looks like it was designed by a committee of chartered accountants. It would take years to do over in a way that is really pleasing. We can’t decide whether we are up to it, or whether we should just start over from scratch.