I'm bad at cleaning.

What have you internalized that you are “bad” at, and it has been keeping you from discovering a way to make it work for you?

I don’t know when I internalized the thought that I was bad at cleaning. I grew up with regular chores. I can remember vividly dusting and polishing our wood coffee tables with a canister of lemon pledge. I remember that we never left dirty dishes in the sink, ever. You used a dish you cleaned it, or rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher.

It wasn’t a super strict house, but I do remember it being kept clean, everything in it’s place, with regular cleaning days. My bedroom on the other hand was often a mess.

When I moved out into my own apartments I remember following suit. The community spaces being kept neat and tidy, always having the dishes done, my bedroom the messiest place of the apartment. In many situations I was the cleaner person actually.

But, perhaps living mostly in hotel rooms and tour busses for a decade wasn’t beneficial to actually learning how to not just keep a home tidy, but clean. Meaning, I am good at organization, putting things in their place - but hadn’t really had the practice of the cleaning products, wipe downs, going deep with the surfaces.

I have shared spaces with people who were very particular about how things were to be cleaned and had an aspect of perfectionism that I don’t have. That has added to the “I’m not a good cleaner.” message I have carried around.