Some of us are neat. We have a place for everything. We nearly fit the stereotype of the neatfreak, the retentive, or the obsessive-compulsive perfectionist. Some of us are messy. The only order in our lives is persistent disorder. But generally, one idea seems to underlie our lives: If we can find order, we can find meaning.
In reality, every organization is messy within. Ostensible organization usually hides actual disarray. Take your thoughts, for example.
On the surface, you probably seem to be more in command of concepts and principles than you really are. You make statements; others accept them as evidence of your strong principles and erudition. But internally, you have an unseen battle. No singular philosophy has universally dominated minds; the unexplained lies at the base of each. Yes, some philosophies have dominated for brief durations in local cultures, but none have become universal. Physics, too, has its problems. Has it now become philosophy as it attempts to explain both how and why there is what is? Big Bang, clashing branes, black hole genesis, and even nothingness itself producing something: These are, regardless of the ostensible organization of their proponents, still a bit messy, still a bit incomplete, and still doubted by adversarial minds.
Let’s just go with it, the messy desk, the crowded closet, and the junk drawer of thought. Acknowledge the mess but deal with the realities as they come. Every once in a while, something in the mess makes sense and actually serves as an operational method. What emerges from disorganization can briefly and locally organize. The mess can serve a purpose, become useful at least temporarily, and impose a seeming order on thoughts, actions, and events.
You know the cliché. Messy desk, organized mind. “Don’t touch anything on my desk; I know where everything is.” And then, rummaging through the pile, not always, but sometimes, you find that key piece of paper that solves the problem of the moment. The solution lay in the mess all along. You just have to go through it piece by piece, making more of a mess by shuffling, but ultimately finding that one paper that temporarily makes the moment seem organized and your life meaningful.
In reality, every organization is messy within. Ostensible organization usually hides actual disarray. Take your thoughts, for example.
On the surface, you probably seem to be more in command of concepts and principles than you really are. You make statements; others accept them as evidence of your strong principles and erudition. But internally, you have an unseen battle. No singular philosophy has universally dominated minds; the unexplained lies at the base of each. Yes, some philosophies have dominated for brief durations in local cultures, but none have become universal. Physics, too, has its problems. Has it now become philosophy as it attempts to explain both how and why there is what is? Big Bang, clashing branes, black hole genesis, and even nothingness itself producing something: These are, regardless of the ostensible organization of their proponents, still a bit messy, still a bit incomplete, and still doubted by adversarial minds.
Let’s just go with it, the messy desk, the crowded closet, and the junk drawer of thought. Acknowledge the mess but deal with the realities as they come. Every once in a while, something in the mess makes sense and actually serves as an operational method. What emerges from disorganization can briefly and locally organize. The mess can serve a purpose, become useful at least temporarily, and impose a seeming order on thoughts, actions, and events.
You know the cliché. Messy desk, organized mind. “Don’t touch anything on my desk; I know where everything is.” And then, rummaging through the pile, not always, but sometimes, you find that key piece of paper that solves the problem of the moment. The solution lay in the mess all along. You just have to go through it piece by piece, making more of a mess by shuffling, but ultimately finding that one paper that temporarily makes the moment seem organized and your life meaningful.
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