When No One's Looking

 

"The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching. -- John Wooden

This may not look like much, but the inside of the kitchen cupboard just to the left of the microwave is now ready for anyone to see.

Before this, it wasn't so much that things were chaotic or dirty. There was just 'too much' in there, and the idea is to give the impression of lots of space. So, I sorted out all the mugs and cups and tea thermoses that had somehow collected in there all by themselves, and left just what we needed, and just what fit.

It's just one of countless cupboards in our house that are getting a good purge and tidy up in preparation for us to sell.

That's the thing about showing a house. Normally, if folks were coming over you wouldn't have to worry too much about what's behind the doors. In fact, you might, if you're like me, tend to grab some things and throw them in a closet out of sight when company is coming.

But not for this. For this, everything that actually belongs to the house is open to, well, be opened. So, the tidy kitchen on the outside needs to be the tidy kitchen on the inside too.

I think a lot while I'm cleaning. And here's what I was thinking today.

This is such a good analogy of the understanding of integrity. Who we are, how we behave when no one's looking should be consistent with the person we let everyone see. Inside should match the outside.

In case it seems we're heading down a very narrow path of perfectionism here, this isn't about that; not in housekeeping or in character. But the thing that's been sorting about in my head as I've been sorting about in the closets is this:

I want to increasingly live my life as someone with nothing to hide.

Again, the metaphor breaks down a bit, because there are reasonably and appropriately parts of our souls we only show those closest to us. But that's another posting topic altogether.

In the meantime, if I do want to move forward in living with integrity, perhaps there's some housecleaning to do. Well actually, of course there is. There always is. The big purges. The maintenance stuff. The quick wipe downs.

Feels good in the house.
Feels good in my soul too.

It's been a solid Saturday.
Besides the kitchen, I did some door and trim painting on the stairs, cleared away all the painting mess I've been stepping over now for weeks, pushed through four loads of laundry, did the thorough Saturday sweeping, and deep cleaned the bathrooms.

Don't worry. Ken was working on 'the pit,' an area of our house that will need several full-on campaigns before we'll let anyone see it. I knew I just needed to leave him to it, and he made good progress.

Hope your rainy Saturday was whatever you needed it to be.