Don't mess with mess

I'm messy.* I'm also pretty unapologetic about it if I'm left to my own devices. My closet is a disaster, my clothes and books can be found in about 40% of the open space in the apartment, and my college student brother can spend about three minutes in my room before he starts to compulsively organize my things.

So I'm totally loving this NY Times article, "Saying Yes to Mess" (added emphasis is mine):

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.

The article also goes on to slam people who have overbooked, highly structured schedules, a diagnosis which, as a product manager and a big believer in having your priorities and process straight, I don't entirely agree with. But other than that, right on!

*Note: Though I'm comfortable with clutter, I am clean. For example, I'm pretty good about keeping tabs on our refrigerator, especially after the rapidly decomposing fiasco that was once our market basket, and I try not to tempt the ants and critters that no doubt see our first-floor apartment as a safe haven in these sub-freezing temperatures.