My Socks are Folded

Everywhere I gaze I see me – I’m at my place, in my room, inside. For contrast, I open up a social media platform I still enjoy and there I see someone, in a city that I love but am away from, has dressed up as a clown and has taken to the street holding a sign that says, “bonne fête la covid” (in all capitals). I cannot laugh at this. In response, I find myself with eyes narrowed, mouth breathing and trying to understand the feelings that are arising in me. I’ve been analyzing my self, my relations, and my lifestyle a lot this past year especially. The pandemic has been compounded with some inclement interpersonal weather – including events and situations that require gear and tools I’m still learning how to use – but something that has provided me with consistent comfort and growth is organizing my place and life to be filled with more glimmers (for hope and futurity) rather than triggers.

This past November I began approaching organizing in a new way: I began taking photographs of my daily messes before cleaning them up. Bemused in the process of capturing, watching myself enacting this process in a newly detached way, I would come back into myself to smile while looking at the photos, deciphering the breadcrumbs of my subconscious. Questions emerged from the abstract (is there a pattern here? What psychological and physical needs are being illuminated by my use of this space?) to the blunt (should I get new bed sheets? Am I well? Why is my desk a pile of things?). Overall, with judgement aside, the solution I’ve been returning to has been better shelving… but in the process of accepting this solution I’ve come to understand that these guiding concepts are at the core of a holistically healthy organizing method for me. They are synthesized for you below.

1) Prioritize your favourite methods of movement.

The shelf I recently made is positioned so that I can still comfortably sit up in bed if I choose. Anything that extends beyond me-on-tippy-toes is for collecting dust and seldom used items. I prefer direct routes to all points of interest and routine ‘loitering’ – for example: bedroom door to bed is a straight path, entrance to balcony is a smooth curve around the couch, and door to window-I-open-everyday-for-fresh-air is a straight path but requires I step up onto bed (a fun twist to everyday embodiment). I prefer to be walking, climbing, jumping, stretching, running, dancing, and laying – in that order – so if I find I am doing a weird side shuffle everyday to get to a part of my place that is going to quickly translate into mild distress for me. My advice: identify your favourite methods of movement and then honour and prioritize them by moving furniture around as needed. The possibilities are vast - recently, a roommate of mine built a mini climbing wall in a children’s room for a client.

Here are some questions that can be helpful to get started: How do I like to move? How can I make movement as easy as possible? What type and range of movement do I want to involve in my everyday?

2) Identify your sensual preferences and priorities, including the quality and quantity of: (sun)light, paths of vision or sight, surface textures, breath, sound, and consumption.

Maybe you prefer to eat fried food everyday and that works for your constitution, so the question to address here would be how easily accessible is your frying pan? This can also be less practical and more experimental: last month I put up a small strip of sandpaper on the wall that opens up into the living room at the height my hand habitually touched the wall in order to choreograph a slower movement into that space. Maybe your sensual priority is getting direct sun but not much enters your space - in this instant perhaps you mount mirrors to your walls and then make sure there are places for you to enjoy the sun when and where it enters and reflects.

Here are some questions that could be useful with this one: how much direct sunlight do I like? Do I prefer direct sunlight as I wake up, throughout the day, or as I go to sleep? (this one can be addressed by positioning your bed in the east, south, or west areas of your place respectively). Do I like rough or soft materials? What color(s) do I want to see everyday?

Organization is about curating habitual sensuality as much as it is about arranging objects in a logical-to-you manner. I think this area of consideration is especially important for creating a place you want to maintain.

3) Organization provides a framework for routine and maintenance.

If you’re unsure how to group your belongings in a way to make your routine more efficient, simply organize everything by the first type that comes to mind and then optimize once your usage habits have illuminated a unique need (or needs). Check-out your daily subconscious breadcrumbs and how you feel at the end of each day. Do what you can. Organization is as much symbolic as it is logical.

For example, my dominant hand is my right one, so my paintbrushes are in a cup on the right-hand side of my desk; however, I am also invested in urban and architectural design that respects and collaborates with the earth, so my textbooks are grouped with my plants as a subconscious daily affirmation of this. If you know what your ideal routine looks like for you, then the next step is moving furniture and placing items deliberately throughout your space so that you can maintain momentum towards your goals.

Example questions: How can I organize this room to help me get automatic about my ideal mental health routine? How can I organize this room to help keep me respecting my fitness routine? What is the most logical way for me to order the objects in this room so that I can maintain cleanliness efficiently?

Organization is personal preference manifested into an environment. The rules are yours to decide. You can curate, choreograph and design much of your life.

Your home loves you. It is a holistic reflection of you – why not enjoy it. Have you made a mess you’re afraid to look at? Accept it gently. Think about it – who is coming over anyways, especially now? Only your nearest and dearest if anyone at all. I imagine that they know you and love you, so experiencing your unique approach to organizing will likely be amusing to them.

Once you’ve organized your space to be the perfect place for you, you can, in fact extend your insights to anticipate the needs of those you love and accommodate them. Maybe your best friend loves plush seating and sitting in direct sun, and that’s totally available in your south-facing kitchen so you arrange the table there when you’re anticipating her presence. Maybe a friend who loves tea is visiting so you prepare their favourite blend.

However you decide to go forward in organizing your life this spring, I hope it benefits your everyday and respects your time, place, and peace of mind.

I will be maintaining gratitude and relishing in moving things from mass horizontals to mini almost-verticals, scattered throughout my walls (shelving). Everywhere I look I see me and it makes me smile.