Chaos Hates Simplicity
The humidifier hasn’t been filled for days and the house plants looked just as thirsty so I finally corrected the water situation today. A dry house isn’t good for people either, but inevitable in winter if you don’t keep up with it. And that’s the thing, I’m not keeping up. Things I might have done routinely in the course of a day are getting put off. I noticed the dishes stacking up next to the sink. Clutter is stacking up in other places too. And it slid sideways the moment I started demolition in the bathroom and laundry room. The washer and dryer are sitting in my son’s room. The cat boxes are in my daughter’s room. Cleaning supplies and shelving sit in the master bedroom. Tools and tile are stacked in the hallway waiting their turn. I feel like a hoarder wading through the house. I need a haircut. Chaos has found us.
My theory on chaos is that it lurks right behind you, waiting for an opportunity to pounce into your life. Once it arrives it resists leaving. Chaos is a stubborn thing indeed. If the goal in Yin and Yang is to dance along the edge of chaos and order, then my home and its residents are stumbling into chaos. One of the cats, finding the litter boxes moved to another room, chose to make a deposit at his old bank location. The house, and their world, is upside down. No, this won’t do at all.
The remedy is simple. Make a list in my bullet journal and start drawing an X through each one as I complete the task. Ah, but I’ve slipped on the journal too. The only place that I’ve seen order is in work, which has proven a welcome distraction from the chaos of construction. I’m under some time pressure to get things done with the kids home for a few days during spring break in March. Business trips coming up fast. A new dryer getting delivered and installed soon too. Tick, tick, tick… stop! Now is when you pause, write down everything that needs to get done, and knock things off one at a time. Get things out of the head and on paper. Make order from chaos. Too analog? There’s beauty in simplicity. Chaos hates simplicity. I hate chaos.
This sauce I’m stirring is a blend of David Allen, Greg McKeown, Admiral William H. McRaven and Ryder Carrol. They all point to simplicity kicking the ass of chaos. Get things out of your head and on a list, prioritize and knock things off one at a time. Making order out of chaos, one step at a time. Eventually the list shrinks and you no longer have appliances in your son’s bedroom. But it does require some sweat equity too. Now seems a good time to wrap this up and grab a paint brush. I’ve got X’s to make, and chaos to evict.