Living and working in a small studio apartment for the past ten months, I have to admit I like it a lot more than living in a bigger house.
There’s less to clean. Less to maintain. Less to lose track of.
The space demands a certain kind of honesty. Every object needs a place and a purpose. At least in theory. There simply isn’t enough room for endless accumulation.
And yet, despite all the advantages of small-space living, I’m still not fully unpacked. And my apartment is still a mess.
Apparently, square footage was never the real problem. I am.
For years, I convinced myself that if I just had the right space, I would magically become more organized. The clutter would disappear. The piles would vanish.
“Future Me” would finally emerge as one of those adults who folds fitted sheets correctly and always knows where important paperwork is located.
Needless to say, “Future Me” remains elusive. Possibly even mythical.
What I have learned is that the state of my space affects me more than I like to admit.
As someone who works from home, my apartment isn’t just where I live. It’s where I answer emails, write articles, edit videos, plan projects, and occasionally stare out the window while telling myself I’m working.
When my surroundings become cluttered, my mind often follows.
Which is why, today, finally feeling myself again, I’m planning to catch up on some housekeeping. Not because I enjoy cleaning. I really, really don’t. But because cleaning helps me find meaning in the mess.
And it offers something that feels increasingly rare these days: immediate results.
You wash the dishes and the sink is empty.
You take out the trash and the room smells better.
You organize a shelf and can actually find what you’re looking for.
Cause and effect. Action and outcome.
There’s something deeply satisfying about that simplicity.
In a culture obsessed with productivity hacks, optimization strategies, and life-changing morning routines, cleaning feels almost embarrassingly basic. Yet it’s one of the first things I return to whenever life starts feeling overwhelming.
Not because it solves everything. It doesn’t. The bills still exist. The deadlines remain. The political chaos continues. The world’s problems don’t disappear because I scrubbed a bathroom or dusted a bookshelf.
But cleaning reminds me that I still possess agency.
I may not be able to control everything happening outside my apartment, but I can wash a coffee mug. I can sort a stack of papers. I can clear a desk.
Those small actions create small wins and order where disorder once existed.
And sometimes that’s enough to change the trajectory of a day.
I’ve discovered that housekeeping can be a surprisingly effective form of meditation. Not the cross-legged, candlelit kind. The active, practical kind.
When I’m wiping down counters or reorganizing a drawer, my brain stops trying to solve every problem simultaneously. My attention narrows. The task becomes the task. For a little while, that hyper-focus is all that matters.
So while I still have boxes waiting to be unpacked nearly a year after moving in, I’ve stopped viewing that as a personal failure.
Life is messy.
Homes are messy.
People are messy.
The goal was never perfection.
The goal is to create a space that supports the life I’m trying to build.
A place that feels functional. Comfortable. Welcoming. A place that makes it a little easier to do the work, face the challenges, and enjoy the good times when they arrive.
Maybe that’s why housekeeping continues to matter more than I expect.
Not because cleaning changes the world. But because it changes the small corner of the world I’m responsible for. In uncertain times, there is quiet comfort in that.
Sometimes meaning isn’t found through grand achievements, five-year plans, or life-altering revelations. Sometimes meaning is found in caring for what you’ve been given.
Sometimes it begins with putting things back where they belong.
And sometimes, it begins with doing the dishes.
Keep calm and clean on!
Clint 🌈✌️
COLLIDE PRESS is a reader-supported publication.
Please consider becoming a Paid Subscriber or Patron.
MAY OFFER = 25% OFF ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
thru 05-31-26
SALE EXTENDED = $13 Tees + Up To 40% Off Everything
Sale prices as marked. $13 price applies to select styles.
Ends 6/2 at 5PM CDT.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
BORN THIS WAY ON THIS DAY
05-30 = Bertrand Delanoë (1950- ) = French politician 🌈
05-30 = Christine Jorgensen (1926-1989) = American actor and singer 🌈
05-30 = Countee Cullen (1903-1946) = American poet and author 🌈
MAN CRUSH OF THE DAY
“From the Dark Tower”
by Countee CullenWe shall not always plant while others reap
The golden increment of bursting fruit,
Not always countenance, abject and mute,
That lesser men should hold their brothers cheap;
Not everlastingly while others sleep
Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
We were not made to eternally weep.The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
White stars is no less lovely being dark,
And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
“When my surroundings become cluttered, my mind often follows.” I always thought that was the fastest and easiest way to do a “reset” of my thoughts when working on something. Great advice for someone who’s “stuck”…
Really, when you think about it, it's amazing that anything at all ever gets done. Some people focus on why such and such is missing from our lives, others "why is there anything at all?" I'm of that latter camp, by the way. Happy housekeeping to you, and to all.