Margit’s Note: So Fresh, So Clean

By Margit Detweiler

Everything in its place.

To me, the word tidy doesn’t suggest immaculate, it means orderly and balanced. Neat, but you could still have a secret junk drawer stashed with rubber bands, matches and Chuck E. Cheese tokens. Or a grand heap o’ magazines — stacked and findable — New Yorkers atop New Yorkers; Fast Companys upon Fast Companys; Dynamite magazines from the 1970s; Sassy magazines from the ’90s… I don’t have a problem, why do you ask?

I am far from a tidy person. I am ok living in stuff and a bit of clutterly chaos… until I’m not.

My inbox has won an easy war, due to my own neglect. “42,861 messages?!” say any number of random people who pass by and peek at my laptop. “I just haven’t had time to delete or folder them…and they’re searchable.” And that was all fine and good until Apple mail stopped working last week. D’oh.

We all have those few places and spaces in our purview that, when they’re tidy, life is ok. For me it’s my desk — if it’s not tidy, I can’t write. For Susan, it’s her dresser: “I can’t stand rummaging around for lipsticks.” For Adrianna it’s her chalkboard that lays out her family’s events for the week, and for Kat it’s her travel kit: “I travel so much that it has to be highly organized. I have separate clothing and undies for travel — an easy bag of stuff I can launder and roll for the next trip.”

I’ll bet you have your own must-be-tidy spot. Tell us in the comments below!

Here, in a nice and neat order, are our articles this week:

• Rachel Kramer Bussel offers brave insight into her hoarding habits.
• Susan Linney reminds us that messy bed might just result in a messy head.
• Ben Patterson gives us solutions to tidy up our desktops (yes!).
• Amy Barr argues for a not-so-tidy life.
• Kristin Booker tidies up a cluttered heart.
• Piers Marchant takes us to 4 sparkly clean flicks and one filthy film.

Tidy up yourself — or not. We love you just the way you are.

Margit