I want the cluttered love.

I was planning to write a post about de-cluttering. It was going to be super-informative and helpful. I was going to give you all kinds of wonderful tips about how to embrace spring cleaning.

I read all kinds of articles about de-cluttering [You can find them on my facebook page]. I was prepared to share the de-cluttering adventures in my own house. And I even interviewed Sweet Home Cincinnati, a small business based in southwestern Ohio that helps seniors downsize into smaller homes — as you can imagine, this task requires a heck of a lot of de-cluttering. It was going to be a great post.

But this is not that post.

You see, as I began thinking about Sweet Home Cincinnati, I got stuck thinking about the two bold and incredible women who run this business and how much love they give. They help their clients sort, organize, pack, donate, recycle, sell and move their items into a new home, where they help their client unpack and arrange the items they are keeping.  As if this isn’t enough, they usually have homemade cookies waiting for the client in their new home.  That’s love if you ask me.

As a young girl, I watched the friendship between these two women develop and flourish. [These two women happen to be my mom and her best friend, Lynne.] Our families spent every Christmas Eve together, laughing around a fireplace, eating pulled pork, homemade pizza and peanut butter blossoms, sharing embarrassing stories and exchanging ornaments for our Christmas trees.

I remember the two of them coordinating car rides for baseball tournaments and church activities. They would sing and laugh loudly in the car, sometimes to the point of hysteria or wet pants [sorry, Mom]. I watched them share recipes and help each other pick out their next couch or wallpaper. Sometimes I helped make or eat the soup that was dropped off when someone from one of the families was sick. Or the milkshake when wisdom teeth were removed.

I remember signing birthday cards for Lynne’s sons and receiving one myself every December 17th.  I remember feeling so loved, like it was my own home, when I stepped into the Steels’ home. They lovingly asked about school and friends and they probably even knew the score to last night’s soccer game. They were [and are] friends like family.

I’ve learned a lot from these two women. Their business endeavors and success has been a source of encouragement for me as I strive to run a business of my own.

But even more than that, they have beautifully modeled what it looks like to love your family, friends and community.  And doing that can sometimes call for cluttered love.

You know, the kind of cluttered love that’s not always clean? The kind of love that means you might have dirty dishes in the sink because you made soup for a friend but have to pick your kid up from baseball practice and attend a meeting at the school tonight?  Yeah, that’s cluttered love.

And cluttered love is usually not pretty or organized.  It’s the kind of love that means the laundry might go unfolded or the mail unopened for several days. It means you probably didn’t shower today and you’re having takeout for dinner tonight because you went for a walk with a friend instead of showering or cooking. It means you have mud in your car and red wine stains on your carpet because you allowed your home and vehicle to be a place for folks to gather.

Though sometimes messy and unorganized, I want this kind of love. I want the “I’m-okay-with-some-clutter-love” that lets dirty dishes sit in the sink so I can answer a phone call and listen without distraction. I want the love that draws me to talk to my neighbors and lend a blender or lawn mower. The love that means a messy desk because I decided to write instead of file papers.

Yes, I want that kind of cluttered love.

And yes, I still want to live in an environment that inspires me and allows me to have more focus and clarity, but the truth is there will always be some clutter. And I’m willing to risk having some of it for the sake of having friends like family and a supported community.

Thanks Mom and Lynne, for teaching me [and all of your clients] about de-cluttering and simplifying. And thank you even more for modeling a sometimes cluttered love.

p.s. If you want advice on de-cluttering, check out what Sweet Home Cincinnati [mom and Lynne] has to say here.