Cleanliness, godliness and Stanley Steemer

I have a fairly embarrassing confession to make. I do not get my carpets cleaned very regularly. I'm okay-ish about vacuuming and mopping, but for the real heavy-duty stuff, not so much.

So my sweetie's sisters were planning a weekend visit, and it was the impetus I needed to do some general "sprucing." It included pruning in the patio, finally getting a new lamp for the new end table, organizing the guest bedroom and eliminating piles of stuff, and ultimately, asking Stan "the man" Steemer to come out and do the carpet and tiles.

Well let me tell you, I nearly burst into tears when I saw how much better the tile and grout looked, and how much better the carpet felt under my tootsies. WHAT. TOOK. ME. SO. LONG?

You know, day to day, you can sort of ignore how messy things are. I mean, they function ok. And it's not like anything was sticky. But when you see the difference, you realize how disgusting things actually were.

But when the floor is clean *I* actually feel clean! I feel better. Fresher.

Same when my car is washed and shiny. Same when the kitchen sink is clean. And the mirrors aren't all spotted with tiny dental floss projectiles. And broken things are fixed or replaced. And shelves aren't overflowing with random flotsam and jetsam.

And I got to thinking. I wonder how much self-esteem is tied to being tidy, clean and maintained. I know you can go too far in either direction - completely slobby OR compulsively clean.

But I just think it must be harder to be relaxed, comfortable and positive when you live in a pit. Yes, I know the expression 'happier than a pig in s**t"but I'm not sure we should make that assumption without asking them first.