Cleaning a Mess or That Change-y Thing

Last Friday I gave myself a project at work.  We inherited a fridge, some furniture and other odds and ends from an office across the hall that was moving out of the building.  Not that we have much space in our office, but some of that stuff was in fact a bit of an upgrade.

So I came in Friday morning ready to make some order of the pile of newly acquired items.  To do so, I had to make some space.  Now, we do have a pretty funky space here in JP.  Even today a newcomer popped her head in the door and delighted in the spiral staircase and tall windows.  On first glance the bright light and lofted offices are pretty good looking.  But after seven years, I can tell you how tired and limiting this quarter of the top floor of a former Masonic temple is.

For one thing, there are a lot of windows.  Great for light.  Rather limiting on wall space.  Indeed, all those windows are a curved wall.  We do have flat wall surfaces on the interior and beneath the loft – but the height is a bit of a challenge for some things.  Not to mention, under the loft space is a configuration that requires some puzzle piece assembly.  Oh – and it is an old building… which means anything on wheels tends to move on its own in some parts of this office.  Never mind all that sun exposure… and during intense rainfall…  water.

So those were the challenges I had to overcome – well that and all the stuff already crammed against every available space.  The only way to figure out order, I decided, was to create a lot of disorder.  It took me the whole morning to pull things away from the wall, pile all sorts of random things on top of our large meeting table, and unearth some pretty aged dust bunnies.  After lunch I tackled putting it all back in place.  I ended up staying almost two hours late to get it done - by which time I was exhausted, sore, a bit scratched up, and rather filthy.

I like massive cleaning projects, though.  And those aches and pains and soot were the beacons of a great accomplishment.  Granted, I have a pile of miscellany in one corner of the office I still have to deal with.  But I came back on Monday with a slightly new office… even though all the frustrating quirks of a slanted floor, curved wall… and I have yet to check that ceiling after this morning’s rainfall… are still there.  But it was a worthwhile effort.  Less dead space.  More efficient use of shelving.  More light.  Easier access to some paper supplies… little things that within a few days I won’t even think about… and completely forget the effort it took to make it happen.

Now, I realize that not everyone finds the catharsis or simple pleasure in cleaning.  In fact, I know quite a few people who go to significant lengths to avoid it.  If they have that luxury, they will pay someone else to do it.  Okay.  Fine.  I understand not wanting those aches, pains, exhaustion, and grimy feel at the end of a day.  I understand dissatisfaction with the paid help and the subsequent choice to discontinue that employment.  I don’t understand, however, the decision to completely ignore effort or determine that an exhaustive attempt is no attempt.  Or the conclusion that getting one’s hands dirty in the cleanup process means one has had dirty hands since the beginning.

I suppose my little office cleaning allegory is a poor comparison to politics.  Or maybe not.  I often find myself invoking that last line about it being difficult to clean up a mess without getting one’s hands dirty when talking about one leader wiping up the negligent spill left behind by another.  Maybe the results of a cleanup aren’t the best possible way something can look.  But… then… some people clean by simply sweeping the dirt under a low lying shelf or into a closet.  That’s not necessarily elimination and certainly doesn’t stop that dirt from coming back.

And certainly, when re-organizing in the attempt of cleaning, sometimes you are stuck with a challenging situation.  Sometimes you have to keep the junky pieces because the effort of hauling them down the stairs and finding someplace else to go is more effort than finding a more suitable corner and re-purposing the surface.  It’s still ugly and in the way… but it has some positive use.  And none of it stops the leaky ceiling… but it is still so much much better than what it was before.

Maybe some people will come in here and not notice anything different.  It’s still the same cluttered collection of shelves and cabinets.  The desk surfaces are tired and scratched.  A lot of the big pieces haven’t moved.  And there is still that messy pile in the corner, which certainly discredits any declaration of this office as clean.  It’s not a brand new office.  Things are fixed completely, but I don’t know… I feel a change in the energy.   The food doesn’t freeze in the newer fridge.  The fax machine is more easily accessed, and I’m not tripping over extraneous boxes to get to it.  It is an improvement over before.  And even just that little improvement inspires me to make another effort – like maybe, finally clean up that mess in the corner.