When I was a little girl, my mom was always on my case about keeping my room clean. My desk was littered with cups, folded laundry piled up on my chair, and other odds and ends created a maze on my bedroom floor. To call it a pigsty would be an understatement. If you asked my mother, she was sure that I was running a science experiment in my room.  

There was nothing I dreaded more than when company would come over; I’d prepare for the onslaught of tidying up. Seriously, I never understood the point. The company wouldn’t be eating dinner in my room, and there was no reason they should see my bedroom anyway. My mom and I would bicker back and forth about how often I needed to clean my room and what qualified as “good enough.”  

Now that I’m out of my parents’ home and in my own apartment, I can keep my room however I like. Well, most of the time. There portion that I keep clean, but that’s because it is seen on my web camera during Zoom classes. I’ve got to pretend that I have it all together in front of my professors, right? In general, my room is a disaster zone, but I know where everything is. The reason I haven’t been keen on keeping it clean is because I believe that my messy room allows me to be more creative. 

Some of the most brilliant minds of mankind had messy desks. Albert Einstein quipped, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” Mark Twain and Steve Jobs also join the ranks of unorganized workspaces. By allowing myself to focus on the task at hand instead of menial housekeeping chores, I allow all of my creative juices to be put toward a greater goal.  

In addition to keeping my brain focused on work instead of cleaning, I also draw inspiration from the clutter around me. For example, Instead of keeping a calendar on my bulletin board, I pin up postcards from friends, international candy wrappers, origami cranes, and much more. Instead of having my pens and pencils sorted, I can look around to gather new ideas. For some, that may be distracting, but I find that I am more intimidated by a blank canvas rather than some clutter. When things are too organized, it’s easy to feel that I’m destroying something when I utilize my workspace.  

By allowing a reasonable amount of mess, my creativity flows naturally. I’m not impeded with tedious housekeeping tasks or bogged down by a simplistic workspace. The next time you’re worried about people thinking you are a slob because of your messy room, tell them that if it worked for Albert Einstein, it can work for you. Embrace your creative side, and let the mess run wild!  

Claire Weltz is a Dakota Student Opinion Writer. She can be reached at [email protected].