For most of my life, I’ve longed to live in an immaculate home. I watched aspirational house content with wistful envy, wondering if it’s really possible to keep your house perfectly tidy at all times.

I’ve known people who live in a state of near-perpetual neatness. I am not one of them. Though it’s taken me decades, I’ve now accepted the fact that my home is at least somewhat messy more often than not.

Accepting imperfection

In fact, I not only accept it, but I fully embrace it. And just to be clear, I’m not talking about disgusting uncleanliness or hoarder-level mess here. I’m talking about this:

The above photo is my current view of the state of our living room. We have boxes (which we’re saving for my daughter, who is moving) and a yoga mat that needs to be taken downstairs. The coffee table is strewn with some books and notebooks, sunglasses, reading glasses, and some random paper thingies that haven’t been dealt with yet. Our dining table is holding stuff for my........

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