How Your Home Takes Part In Your Mental Well-Being

  Joey and I haven't even been married for a month, and I'm already giving myself such a hard time for how messy the house is. It seems like a never-ending cycle of cleaning, going to the laundromat, (since we don't have our own washer/dryer *insert sad face*), doing dishes, still unpacking things from the wedding and honeymoon, etc. It's a lot. I'm also, just now, getting over being sick after almost an entire week and having to miss three days of work this past week, (which was not amusing to me what-so-ever). I can also feel myself slowly but surely falling back into some fairly careless and unhealthy eating habits, which has been leaving me feeling pretty.. 'blah' at the end of the day.
  With all of that being said, with the house being a mess, my mind has been even more of a mess. With a long, seemingly endless to-do list of post-wedding things to do, staying on-top of my writing and the podcast, and remaining hard-working and punctual at work, the last thing I have time for, or frankly, care enough to do at the end of my day is cleaning the house.
  While the house and attempting to keep it clean has become more and more of a pain, I know, deep down, that it's crucial to mine and Joey's well-being. When my house is clean, I feel much more at-ease. I am a lot more likely to workout like I like to in the mornings before work, I'll be responsible and make sure to carve out time at night to do my skincare routine, I'll take an extra few moments to fold the extra clothes on the couch, etc.. All of that may sound weird and confusing, but allow me to elaborate:
  I've believed for such a long time that every human, no matter who you are, has a safe place; a place where you can be yourself, relax, renew, and feel at-peace. For a lot of people, (including myself), that place is their home. Your home should be filled with things that allow you to dump your cares on the doorstep, and enter into an oasis of self-reestablishment. Every time you leave your home, you should feel better walking out than you did going in.
  To me, a clean and organized space allows me to feel more creative and more-likely to make healthier decisions and to wake up earlier in the mornings. Taking care of the environment that I spend so much of my time in at night and on the weekends means that I'm also taking care of myself. Your home or wherever it is that you derive your energy from should be well-taken care of-- it's more important than you think.

kati