New Year, Same Mess

This morning I discovered the real reason why you shouldn’t scroll social media first thing after waking up in the morning. Sure, there are psychological reasons for it but the cleanliness of my home and good fortune in the new year have been put in jeopardy by scrolling through Facebook upon starting my January 1st.

Because the 1st fell on a Monday, I had a three day weekend to enjoy. I ended up sleeping through most of Saturday because my body decided it was so. I didn’t wake up until around 2pm when (surprise, surprise) I got a work call. I opted for a lazy day and I have zero regrets about that.

Sunday was equally as low-key. I ran a singular errand to ensure I had some food in the house and then relaxed and got to work on some ideas for new books that I want to write. For anyone keeping track, I currently have 8 books in progress because my ADHD is real.

The point is, not a lot of productive things happened around the house. My normal M.O. for weekends is to relax on Saturday and do the more productive stuff (laundry, meal prep, cleaning) on Sunday. When it comes to these random 3-day weekends, I move everything to Monday.

So I woke up this morning with these amazing, grand plans to clean up and get ready for the short week ahead. Lo and behold, the universe has different plans in mind.

As I’m scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, I stumble upon a meme that shakes me to my core- apparently cleaning on New Year’s Day is a one-way ticket to a year of bad luck. Seriously, universe? I can’t even Marie Kondo my way into prosperity?

Then I did a deep dive into the internet to learn about this superstition/tradition and here’s the kicker: No, no, my friends. It’s the kind of cleaning that involves sweeping away all the dust bunnies, scrubbing the floors until they sparkle, and, God forbid, changing the cat’s litter box. Yes, you read that right. My feline overlord’s throne was in desperate need of a royal refresh, but suddenly, I found myself questioning if I was about to flush my good fortune down the drain – or, in this case, the litter box.

So I sat there, staring at Burger with a mix of guilt and uncertainty. Could a cat’s unhappiness be the harbinger of doom for my entire year? The stakes had never been higher as I grappled with the decision to either ignore the superstition or risk becoming the protagonist of a feline-driven apocalypse. (That actually sounds like a fun book idea… let me jot that down). 

And then there were the dishes – a mountainous pile of plates, cups, and silverware that served as a stark reminder of my culinary endeavors from the night before (and the entire weekend to be honest). I couldn’t possibly start the year with dirty dishes, right? But what if washing them meant washing away my chances of financial success and good fortune?

To add to the chaos, there’s the forgotten load of laundry languishing in the dryer from last weekend. The socks and shirts looked at me accusingly, as if to say, “You can’t possibly fold us on New Year’s Day, can you?” Well, can I? Is it written in the cosmic rulebook that unfolded laundry is the ultimate jinx?

So now I sit here in my cluttered living room, torn between the fear of inviting bad luck and the undeniable need for cleanliness, I can’t help but wonder – is 2024 the year of domestic dilemmas? Am I destined to live in chaos to avoid tempting fate?

I did change the litter box because it would not have been pretty if I hadn’t. Otherwise, I’m sitting here wondering what I can and can’t do to ensure that 2024 isn’t a repeat of the weird hell-scape that was 2023.

Well, that’s not fair. 

Ugh, I’m going to turn into a broken record because I feel like I write the same thing at the beginning of every year. I know not to focus on the bad because when you look at all the good, it more than likely outweighs that bad. But when the last four months have felt like a non-stop shit storm, it’s hard to remember that good things happened.

So here’s to me ignoring the pile of laundry, dishes, and dust bunnies and hoping that cleaning the cat box didn’t displease the overlords of the new year.