Viva la Revolucion!

So this New Years, I’m crossing “Get Organized” off my list of resolutions.

Because the New York Times told me that I don’t have to. An article last week extolled the virtues of disorganization, encouraging readers to embrace clutter as the mark of creativity and individuality. One particularly insightful paragraph stated:

But contrarian voices can be heard in the wilderness. An anti-anticlutter movement is afoot, one that says yes to mess and urges you to embrace your disorder. Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands.

Vindication is mine!

Suck it, Container Store! Always taunting me with your empty promises that color-coded files and a well organized shoe rack will lead me to a happier and more productive life. I always knew that you were a false prophet!

Turns out the stacks of paper strewn across my desk, the phone numbers I can never find and the appointment book I’m always losing are just the signs of a nimble mind at work. I don’t have time to alphabetize, I’ve got important thinkin’ to do!

According to the NY Times website, the article has been at the top of most frequently e-mailed story list for days. I’m sure that loads of important international news has been overlooked as throngs of Type B personalities celebrate our newfound validation. What a novel idea that perhaps we shouldn’t feel ashamed of our hapless closets and our unmade beds. That it’s acceptable—nay healthier—to have other priorities for how we choose to spend our free time.

I’ve always felt that neatness, or lack thereof, is beyond our control anyway. Our level of organization is something that’s hard wired into us, like being right or left-handed or the ability to roll our tongues. Sure I could teach myself to write and peel bananas with my left hand, but what’s the point? It would never feel natural. Likewise, my boyfriend--who only half-jokingly lives by the motto that if it’s not a right angle, it’s a wrong angle—could force himself to throw his laundry on the floor with reckless abandon. But for him, this would be a miserable, unfulfilled life.

(For the record, he’s a very creative and funny guy, not an inflexible prig as the New York Times would have you believe. Perhaps it’s because his neatnik tendencies only apply to his bedroom and office, and not his bathroom or kitchen. However, if he ever buys a label maker, I’m leaving him.)

As thrilling as it is to be let off the hook for messiness, it calls into question a number of other so-called shortcomings for which we routinely beat ourselves up. For instance, who says that procrastination is the wrong way to approach tasks? That people who go to bed early and wake up with the sun are more virtuous than those of us who choose to greet Saturday afternoon in a horizontal fashion. That watching TV will make you stupid? (People who say this have clearly never seen an episode of The Daily Show or Veronica Mars.)

This is not to say that we should all become useless slugs, wiling the days away in front of the TV surrounded by our unfolded laundry. All I’m suggesting is that we should stop feeling so guilty for the short periods of the day we spend in blissful unproductiveness. There will always be jobs, errands to run, meals to prepare and gym memberships to justify. But wouldn’t it be amazing if the time we waste turns out to be the most valuable part of our days?

In light of this revelation, I’ve revamped my list of resolutions for the New Year:

1.) Start looking for new, more fulfilling job/ figure out what I want to do with my life
2.) Learn to speak Spanish
3.) Go to gym at least twice a week
4.) Learn to cook actual meal not involving plastic wrap or microwave
5.) Eat more vegetables
6.) Don’t hate myself if I fail to accomplish #’s 1,2,3,4 or 5.