The privilege of cleanliness

The more I live in the manse, the more I realize how being "clean" is a privilege.

I didn't really realize how much of a clean freak I can be before I joined Radical Journey. At home with the 'rents, my bedroom generally is fairly cluttered (though never to the point of disastrous) and at school Jille and I were fairly messy people, but hey man, a small dorm is easy to mess up. Besides, we cleaned it once a week.

But then I came here and no matter what I do, I cannot keep the manse clean at all. It's so frustrating. There are days when I just want to walk out of the house in frustrating and never look back, while other days I can deal with it fairly well. My team gives me a lot of grace, especially when we clash with ideas of what needs to be cleaned and when. But I guess that's life living in an "intentional community" as we all try to hold things more loosely.

Yet, yesterday we were reprimanded for the state of the manse – that not keeping it tidy was a reflection of our work ethnic and hearts. Wow. I could've packed up my bags and left, especially after finding out that our living space may or may not be subjected to weekly inspections. (Talk about a huge cultural clash right here). It's not like I haven't been trying to keep this place in order, it just that the state of the manse is already dilapidating and we hectically busy with other things that most of the time the last thing I want to do when I get back is clean something that will be just as dirty literally one single hour later. Anyway, living here has got me wondering that if we think "poor people" tend to be "more dirty" than those from "upper classes" (excuse the generalizations), maybe it's not their own fault. The areas they live in, what is available to them, and how much time they time they have too all factor in.

Well, it's not that profound, but I was thinking about these things as I scrubbed the floor this evening, knowing, full well, that tomorrow morning it will be back to the way it was before. Oh well, I sit tonight, content that the house is cleaner, for the moment.