When is it okay to ignore the dog hair on the staircase? Is it possible for a woman to not clean every day, and still be considered a woman? Should we feel shame if there is dog hair on the carpet?
What do you think?
I am in the middle of drawing forty cats for a coloring book. There are dishes all over the counter, and in the sink. Dirty ones that is. There is a load of clean dishes in the dishwasher that needs to be put away. There is dog hair on the carpet on the staircase, and there is unfolded clean laundry on the sofa.
Sometimes, I think I am a failure as a woman. As though I am defined by how clean my carpeted staircase is, or I am defined by how long the dishes sit on my counter.
Someone from the Society of Disapproval and Not Minding Their Own Business will knock on my door with a little clipboard and a grading sheet, and they will walk through my house and grade me on my housekeeping skills. They will grade me and I will come up lacking. As though how often I sweep is a reflection of my character.
I might get a C. The last few days, I might get a D.
But, it they came into my studio, they would see that I chose to draw cats and make a coloring book to share. Making art to bring joy to others. And if they gave me an A for being creative, I would tell them to mind their own business. I would take the graded sheets. The D for housekeeping and the A for drawing and rip them up into ten million pieces.
Because I don’t want anyone else to define me. The nebulous , they. They might not approve. They think we should clean more often. They think the kitchen should be clean every day. They think women should always do this or that. They think women should _____. Fill in the blank.
There really are no rules. Besides the ten commandments.
But often I make rules up because I am trying to understand how culture works. How people think, all the unwritten rules of society. Do this, don’t do that.
Stop seeking approval for who we are and how we define ourself. Click To Tweet“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”
― Shannon L. Alder
When is it okay to ignore the dog hair on the carpet?
- Leave dog hair on the carpet when you need to collect enough to make a sweater.
- Leave dog hair on the carpet when you know you won’t have company. Only clean if company is coming.
- Leave dog hair on the carpet when you plan to rip up the carpet and paint the wooden stairs.
- Leave dog hair on the carpet when you are busy living. What is a little hair?
Do you ever feel like you would get a D if an inspector from the Society of Disapproval and Not Minding Their Own Business came to your house?
Do you base your worth on what you do?
“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing your worthy of the trip.”
― Glenn Beck, The Christmas Sweater
I am not my house.
I am not my dirty carpet.
I am not my husband.
I am not my debt.
I am not my children.
I am not my past.
I am not my cancer.
I am not my parents.
I am not my mistakes.
I am not my…
I am a child of God.
I am forgiven.
We have value because of who we are and not what we do. Click To TweetWhen is it okay to ignore the dog hair on the staircase?
Please tell me in the comments I would love to chat.
