There are always reusable bags in my car. Tote bags, plastic bags, paper bags, you name it. And when I get to the grocery store checkout, I usually haven’t’ remembered to bring them. Here in Maryland, a requirement to use your own bags is county-by-county but in many places, bags aren’t provided and you get charged a dime per bag if you need them. I’m in favor of this environmentally friendly policy: by 2050, there will be more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean. In Maryland, over 75 percent of shoppers carry groceries in single-use plastic bags despite efforts to implement reusable bags. The other day I remembered my reusable bags. When I forget them and have to buy paper (plastic bags are completely outlawed in five of 23 Maryland counties and 11 municipalities) I call it “the idiot tax” for forgetting. I said to the cashier, “starting today I’m going to be an organized person.”
How organized you are is determined by many factors, and like with everything else, there’s the nature versus nurture debate. Your genetics: were your parents organized, so did you inherit “cleanliness is next to godliness” genes, and encouraged as a child to put all your toys away and make your bed before going to school? If you grew up in a clean and organized household, you’re more likely to have one yourself.
Sometimes, if raised in an overly-restrictive organized household, you might swerve to disorder and chaos as rebellion. You were made to clean your room so hard every day as a kid that as an adult you’ll never make a bed again. Maybe your mom was a slob and now you’re a neat freak.
If order, efficiency and neatness are important to you, you might desire a setting that reflects these values. Astrology also plays a part, and if you’re one of the astrology signs that doesn’t believe in “that kind of thing,” the signs of us who do will continue to roll our eyes at you, but I’ll say this: you guys are usually the ones with the organized closets. As a chaotic Gemini, I consider myself lucky to have a daughter with Virgo placements and Virgo son I can pay for studio, car and garage organizing.
I’ve never placed a lot of value on perfection. People who have perfection fetishes generally freak me out. I’m scattered, messy and cluttery by nature, and have struggled with managing those qualities both in my life and its environs. I don’t fold clothes neatly when they come out of the dryer, never remember to make beds or care that they aren’t made, and there’s perpetually a pile of clothes on the floor that “I need to get to.” I remember as a kid in the church bulletin there was a picture of this round vinyl-record looking thing labeled a “round tuit.” It said cut this out and keep it and then when you need to do something, you won’t have to look anymore to get “a round tuit.” I lost it, so I guess that’s why I never get around to the nagging list of boring organizational things in life, like mail.
After raising four kids, there’s accumulated clutter that follows you around—unpacked, unlabeled boxes, memorabilia, holiday decorations you don’t even put up anymore, clothes you need to donate: a battle of the garage bulge. A condo’s worth of Marie Kondo castaways.
I want to change, even if it’s just a little. I meant what I told the grocery store clerk. I want to be more organized. I recognize how much more productive you can be when things are in a certain place, and productivity is something I value. I’m working after a recent move to create an organized creative studio space so I can resume candlemaking and miniatures in a setting that’s pleasant and maximized for efficiency. I don’t know that I’ll ever do it, but one reusable plastic bag at a time, I can try.