Mess is Where the Books Are

Daily Prompt: Sweeping Motions

What’s messier right now — your bedroom or you computer’s desktop (or your favorite device’s home screen)? Tell us how and why it got to that state.

It used to be my bedroom. Papers and books scattered across the floor like a second layer of carpeting with art supplies lining the walls but all that has been picked up and cleared away because of the attack of the silverfish. Now the messy place is my nightstand, where bills are thrown and forgotten.

Actually, it’s not a nightstand but a small office bookcase (too broke to buy a nightstand). The spillover from my bookcase is stocked on it as well as art supplies and a few electronics. On top, I have a lamp, alarm radio, batteries, medicine, Bible (of course), an exiled Nook Color, a few articles I’ve printed, an old purse, Our Daily Bread (a daily devotional), Christian Rudder’s Dataclysm (which I just completed), pens and highlighter, a bottled water, booklight, and a stack of bills I try hard to make invisible by the force of my mind.

I’ve tried tidying it but every time I succeed in doing so, it refills within a few days. Sometimes I wonder if my family contributes to the mess. It simple cannot be just me. The thing is my nightstand has become an easy place to throw things I’d rather not think about—bills—or to place things that I can quickly access from my bed—currently-reading books, medicine, Bible, and water, a bit in that order.

I love to read in bed. It’s easier to find a comfortable position there than in a chair. Usually I like to keep all the materials I’m currently reading on the floor by my bed but now I keep the most recent (or the most engaging) on my nightstand to cut back on the clutter. Medicine—for a stuffy nose—should always be on hand for a clogged nose means little sleep and I am always grumpy when I don’t get enough sleep. The Bible is mandatory in my house. Almost every room has one. Unfortunately, I don’t read it as often as I should but I like to keep it close as I am a bit superstitious and having it nearby is comforting. As for the water, I get thirsty. It can be a nuisance sometimes though. Drink too much water and your dreams will be interrupted by you having to use the bathroom frequently which sucks when it’s a great dream involving Michael Fassbender and a motorcycle.

Now that this daily prompt has alerted me to the messiness next to my bed, I’ll have to schedule time to clear it away this weekend. I think I’ll extend the chore to my bookcase, which is also a mess simply because the books aren’t organized. Oh and there may be a few things on there that shouldn’t be—2 empty water bottles, an old glasses case, a defective computer mouse, bath salts (as if I have time for a relaxing bath), funny glasses that I only wear on my birthday, boxes of contact lenses, empty bottles for a plug-in air freshener, a stack of photos, a bunch of magazines, journals, and, of course, books. Funnily, those random items seem to disappear when placed along the shelves with the books. Their colors blend into the colors of the books’ spines making the items invisible. No wonder I forget they’re there!

Apart from these two spots, my room neat. I can’t have too much mess because it will make me agitated and unable to think clearly. But it’s impossible for me to have a tidy spot that also hosts my books. I will interact with that spot too frequently to not make a mess of it. So as much as I will clean and tidy this weekend, by next weekend, the nightstand and bookcase will look much the same as it does today.

Wade through other messes

• I am the Stacker (psibrone.wordpress.com)
• A Symbol of One’s Depression (thisonpurpose.wordpress.com)
• Messy Life, Positive Me (shibumathewn15.wordpress.com)
• A messy desk encourages a creative mind (mindfuldigressions.com)

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