Clean Carpet Guru: Getting Better and Better (Little by Little)

Getting Better and Better (little by little)

Oh how I love a big reveal. I love it when things go from awful to wonderful in one day.

But real life, fortunately/unfortunately seems to be more about the small improvements. The ones that happen again and again. At random moments.

I shared my laundry room cleanout last spring. I was excited to be able to use my narrow rolling rack that I’ve had for years (through multiple washers and dryers), but that didn’t fit with the last set up we had.

I also shared the imperfect container I was using for rags. It didn’t fit neatly (or prettily) on the rolling rack, but it did the job I needed to do. It contained. I used it as a natural limit to determine how many rags I could/needed to keep.

And then one day over the summer, as I finished one container of laundry detergent pods and started on another, I realized the pod container would fit perfectly on the rack.

And was the perfect size to “contain” all of the rags.

Yay for finding the perfect container and not paying a thing for it!

But, y’all, another unexpected benefit came from this quick and practical moment.

Not only could I fit the rag container on the rack, I now had room to fit my new container of laundry pods on there as well. And that has given me unexpected joy each and every Monday since.

Once upon a time, I didn’t even consider buying detergent in pod form because it tends to be more expensive than the kind you pour. Then one day, as I was ordering what I needed, I saw that some pods were on sale and were as good a deal as the stuff I normally bought.

The minute I started using them, I fell in love. No heavy lifting of jumbo-sized, super heavy, strangely-messy-even-though-it’s-technically-a-cleaning-product containers. I just reached down, grabbed a pod, and plopped it in.

And felt joy.

I was surprised at the pleasant emotion I felt each time I went through this ritual (six or seven times every Monday) and decided I was willing to pay a few extra cents per load to experience that feeling.

But y’all, it got better. When I rearranged things for the “new” rag container and put the pod box on the shelf, I had no idea how my life would improve.

I now don’t even have to reach. I don’t bend over or twist or turn or anything. I grab a pod and drop it in, moving my hand less than a foot.

And every time I do this, I smile and maybe even giggle a little.

I know this sounds like a rather ridiculous thing to get so excited about.

But these are the little things that I imagine would happen if I was “organized.” If I could just set things up perfectly, thinking through every last detail, life would run smoothly. Laundry would run smoothly.

Laundry would be easy.

But perfect doesn’t happen around here.

So many times, I have “organized” spaces. I have analyzed and predicted and planned. But even though I loved the after photos, the spaces would eventually go back to chaos. For years, I assumed that meant I had failed.

But, over the life of this blog, focusing on my deslobification process, I’ve realized that my goal is Better. And I’ve given myself permission to just declutter.

Again and again if needed.

And as I do that, as I look for ways to put the Container Concept into action, as I allow myself to make tiny changes as they occur to me instead of putting off making any changes until I “have the time” to do Entire System Overhauls, things get Better.

And I find joy in Better.

What Better has given you joy lately?

Links from this post:

The Container Concept explained in a podcast.

The Container Concept explained through the lightbulb moment when I finally grasped the concept for myself.

An Amazon affiliate link to the narrow rolly cart I love so much.

Amazon affiliate links to two kinds of laundry detergent pods I’ve loved way too passionately: All and Tide

Getting Better Little by Little