I am bar none one of the most "creatively organized" people I know. My room is constantly a state of Hurricane Sasskitty (much to the distress of my EXTREMELY neat fiance) and my desk is covered by my unique filing system, which consists of flinging paper into the appropriate pile (much to the distress of my EXTREMELY neat coworker).Imagine my delight when I watched CBC Sunday news last week and watched a piece on David H. Freedman's new book A Perfect Mess.
Freedman's thesis is that organizational efforts tend to close off systems to random, unplanned and creative influences that might lead to breakthroughs. My LIFE is a MYRIAD of random, unplanned and creative influences. How fantastic to have my theory that a clean desk is a sign of a really twisted and scary mind agreed with! WOO HOO!
This is not a new thesis by any stretch of the imagination. Those of us with "creative minds" have been using this rationalization for years, and I can see how it would drive those around us who are INEVITABLY neater than we are to the brink of insanity. The thesis also has its flaws, but I am still grasping on to it like a life preserver. I am a creative soul...although maybe I should pick up my socks...
My brain is also a bit cluttered. The tracks in my mind are all four leafed clovers, and the train cars are filled with trivia detritus galore! Allow me to regale you with this morning's thought process while on the skytrain...
"Ooo...fire trucks. That must be for the huge fire in New Westminster that I saw reported on the news this morning. I wonder how it was started. Maybe it was a cow, like the one in Chicago. How would a cow start a fire? Was it a pyromaniac cow? Maybe it was a smoker...is that how you get Montreal smoked meat? It would make sense that cows in Montreal would smoke. Could a horse start a fire, or a chicken, or are pyromaniacal tendencies limited to cows? Did the cow kick over a bucket? Is that how they came up with the term kicking the bucket? How do we get weird terms like that? I should write a book. Maybe I should seek a Canada Council Grant. Damn. I have to finish that grant at work. I wonder how much more work I have to do on that. I wonder where I put it on my desk? Oh look...a shiny thing"
I am amazed I manage to even get off the skytrain at the right stop...
2 comments:
ohmigod - u are hilarious!!!
You know, I find this funny but I do believe there is a great deal of truth to this. We all process in our own ways.
A messy desk or room does not mean that you are not an exceptional thinker and organizer. It just means you have a different approach.
I tend to be very organized and neat. However, I think this is a reaction to my mind which a mess of scattered thought, idea and confusion. I somehow feel more in control if I can be in a neat environment. Maybe I need to let that go.
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