3 July 2012
Alphabetical Underwear - AKA Why my access to Google should be restricted
Have you ever stood on the precipice that separates organised
from straight jacket - out damn spot, crazy? Take a seat my friend
and let me tell you how the crazy half live.
In a frustrated storm, racing around the house in an attempt to
find the garage door opener - for the third time this week - I
realised that just maybe, I am a little OCD. I like my keys to sit
on the hook, next to my wallet, next to my phone, connected to its
charger, so that when I leave in the morning I don't have to do the
20 minute 'What have I forgotten?' checklist.
When you look at it on the broader scale of organisational
insanity, my compulsion for placing my keys in the same spot each
day is probably not so acute. Much like watching Jerry Springer to
feel better about your own family, I decided to Google the
extremities of OCD so that I could feel secure that my compulsion
was merely an endearing quirk and not a clinical study.
What I found could be abbreviated to fill War and Peace.
Everything from the people that spin around 4 times before they can
enter a room to people that labelled their underwear and then
stored it alphabetically. Strange, but true.
I tend to think the location of my keys isn't going to land me
in a straight jacket at any time in the near future, but it does
get you thinking doesn't it?
Not so far from the realms of this OCD behaviour is the theory
of 'comfort zones'. More socially acceptable than labelling your
underwear - true. Everybody has a comfort zone, for some of it this
is the refuge of a familiar food, friend or family member, for
others it might be their job or the confines of the suburb they
live in.
The question that weighs on my mind at the end of this hour of
procrastination is - What do our strange habits and embedded
comfort zones keep us from doing, achieving and seeing? Are we
prisoners to our own routine, going through the motions day after
day like the cast of a Broadway musical? Would a change to the
slightest detail, make a significant difference to our lives? You
be the judge.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy a label maker. Make this
the day that you do something to shake up your routine.