Actually, three weeks ago.
Okay, fine. The last time I cleaned my room was two weeks after I'd moved in with my current roommates, and that was mid-February. Fortunately, I have a rather spacious room all to myself, so it takes quite a lot for it to look dreadfully messy. Unfortunately, the deceptively clean look of it despite random clothes and books scattered around it means I just end up disappointed when it still takes three hours to completely clean and dust it.
On afternoons such as this, I can hear my mom speaking to me as though she's right here: "If you'd clean it every week, it wouldn't take this long." It's a statement I heard quite often growing up, when I was known to go for months at a time without touching a dust rag or a vacuum, and when I also neglected to clear clutter from the floor. I'll admit, I clean more often now. But I still tend to let my own areas get incredibly cluttered before I do anything about them. (So cluttered, in fact, that when I lived with my last roommate, I actually had a dream wherein she went into my room to borrow a movie, tripped on all of my crap, hit her head on the corner of my desk, and died.)
The funny thing is this: I actually enjoy cleaning. It gives me a sense of delight and control to see my formerly messy room looking nigh unto spotless, with the correct month and dates written on my whiteboard calendar, my on-loan-from-the-library-books neatly stacked in a corner, and my shoes neatly lined up in my closet. One of my professors once quoted a writer who said it was easy and more restful to write in a clean place. And I must admit, it does feel nicer to camp out in my room now.
Anyway, I was thinking while I was cleaning. When things get too cluttered in my room, I tend to lose patience with myself and others more often. When it is insanely messy, I really can't say I much like having a room of my own. But as soon as I clean, I can feel my spirits lightening as layers of actual, physical grime are removed. (Side note: I should have thought to clean the blinds on my window when I first moved in, because I am pretty sure the girl who inhabited the room before I did was oblivious to the wonders of those magical things known respectively as dust rag, vacuum, and cleaning wipes.) I can relax more when I let myself be organized.
What I forget, sometimes, is that I can apply this principle to my life: sometimes I just need to strip away the clutter. I don't need all of the activities, all of the to-do lists, all of the self-appointed tasks I give myself. While life is about learning, it's not about going and doing all the time. I'm sure even Nephi had to stop and allow himself to mellow once in a while.
But in this world, it seems I am something of an anomaly if I am not always preoccupied. Not always busy. Not always running to get somewhere or to achieve something. Sometimes I forget I can achieve more by simply cleaning out my life and letting myself recharge than I can by running around like a crazy woman. So it's good to deep-clean as I did today, because it's good to remember that sometimes, I'm just allowed to be me.
