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Good morning. This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to clean for yourself.

Think of cleaning as an act of kindness to your future self,

because it makes your home a place where you can lead the life that you want.

Today's tip comes from an episode of NPR's Life Kit, featuring a conversation

between host Mariel Segarra and Casey Davis, a therapist and author of How to Keep House

while drowning. Casey Davis noted that what we want from a space may vary from person to person,

but cleaning tends to let us use our space.

It is hard to enjoy great meals if you can't find a clean plate.

It is hard to relax and wind down for bed if your bed is covered with dirty laundry.

And it is hard to stay on top of

papers and tasks when bills and mail could be anywhere. With that in mind, cleaning isn't something

required to impress an external audience. And cleaning isn't a moral obligation. Having a messy house doesn't make you a bad

person, any more than having a clean house makes you a saint. I imagine there are some mean people

with spotless houses. Instead, having a clean house simply lets you use your house. In other words,

you don't exist to serve your space. It exists to serve you. What matters, according to Davis,

is whether my house is functioning and whether I'm able to live the kind of life I want to inside of it.

I love that. If you are able to find what you need, gather with friends and family in the way you want to,

relax, sleep well, get work done, and do whatever else you ask of your home, then your home is in good shape.

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