There is a certain madness to organizing things. When one endeavors to impose order, one does so with the full understanding that which has been organized shall inevitably fall into disarray again. Such is the nature of things, entropy is a foregone conclusion. Still, we persevere; daring to organize, categorize, arrange, iron, clean, tidy all that which we deem out of place. Why? Why engage in such futility?
Perhaps this joke explains it best: A young boy inquired of his father why it was necessary to make his bed each morning only to have it all wrinkled up at night when he sleeps in it. His father promptly replies "why, then do you wipe yourself each time you are done with the bathroom?" It sounds crude, but perhaps therein lies the answer of why we prefer order. There is beauty in symmetry, a mathematical elegance in having defined patterns. More importantly, it accords us the "illusion" of a clean slate, to start anew as they say.
I suppose our lives would be more chaotic had we not develop schematics to help us navigate through the seemingly random events that occur. Without logic and priorities, everything is given equal status, and nothing is left out. We would then have risked sensory overload, subsequently overlooking the minute details that are so essential as we become so overwhelmed. Evolutionary dictates the need for order; without it, aberrations would not be as salient, and our survival instinct diminished.
The goal, then, is not to make order a Herculean endeavor, but one of increments. After all, never was a jigsaw puzzle solved in one fell swoop. Instead, it can be a progressive mental exercise as well as a physical one to solve such puzzles. It requires patience, a keen eye, and experience to embark on such an endeavor. Therein lies another example where the journey is indeed more important than the destination. To have order, to build it in the face of chaos requires integrity, character, and a certain amount of audacity. Shy not away from it, start small, start gingerly even, but start and soon you will be surprised by how much discipline you have attained.
