As a kid, I color-coordinated my crayons back into the case. It took a while. My mom would tell me to just put them back, that I didn’t need to rearrange them like that, but still I took my time, placing each of them where they were supposed to go.
I don’t do that anymore. I grew out of those organization skills pretty quickly.
Sometimes, I catch myself with that instinct, though, wanting to arrange things neatly in the drawer, taking too long to clear a space because I want to get the details right. I catch myself and stop, leaving the disorder to itself.
I think I still notice – I just don’t try to correct the chaos as much.
[Update: My mom gently informed me that this wasn’t actually about color coordination at all. It was that I wanted all the tips facing up. I guess my memory filled in the details. The concept behind this still applies.]
