# 1 Clean house equals clean mind

I did some experimenting with this yesterday. I was in the slummest of slums, had to come home early from an outing and what do I see? The kitchen is a complete mess. To sum up how bad it was, I live with 4 other girls and its finals week. Pretty bad. My mind was already way to stressed about 14 billion other things, seeing the pig sty made me want to literally curl up in a ball and cry. 

But then I realized something. If I get worse when seeing a mess, won't I get better when I see sparkly clean? So I set to work.

1. Turn on calming music. Check

2. Gather ALL of the dishes next the the sink. Check

3. Fill the dishwasher, turn it on, and hand wash the rest. Check.

Now while those are drying, there were a lot of other fish to fry. Like the stove. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't get everything spotless and shiny new, but you know what? it was better and better was all I needed.

4. Wipe down the stove. Check.

5. While you're there, wipe down the microwave. Check.

And just like that, appliances and dishes are done! But then of course obsessive me starts getting frustrated that the counters are so cluttered. So here's round three:

6. Gather everything on the counters that doesn't need to be there. 

Put away what you can and put the rest in a box, out of sight out of mind.

7. Wipe the counters.

8. Now the floors are dirty because you just got all the crap from the counters on them, so you'd better sweep. But forget about moping, waaaaaay too much work.

Last step!

9. Take out the trash and recycles (we all know that they've been building up over time)

And voila, beautiful. Now this isn't a cleaning tutorial, I'm sure you all know how to clean a kitchen. My point is that to get yourself out of a slum you have to be methodical and take small steps at a time. Just one task at a time. Having little tiny objectives is the easiest way to feel like you've actually accomplished something, you do thousands of little things a day. Try and focus on what you've already accomplished and then revel in it. Sit on the counter and marvel at the beautiful work you've just done -- you'll feel just a tiny bit better, I promise. 

I've realized that in all literature, the characters at some point enter a dark period of their life. I'm starting to understand how they felt. The only problem is that when you're in the slum, you can see any way out. The characters always find something that makes them happy and eventually resurrects them, but it isn't that clear cut in reality. It's hard to find something great when you look around and all you see is time, effort, and energy. Nothing sounds fun. 

You're probably expecting the answer. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have it. This is my struggle as much as it is yours. This blog is my journey, my search for answers. I'll let you know when I figure it out.