Is there beauty in organizing? Super-organized people are often chided for being “uptight” or “OCD,” but I want to suggest that they see art and beauty in things others might miss. If you tend to be a bit less structured, hang in there with me for a moment.

One of my favorite times of the year is fast approaching: Back to School! It’s okay to cheer if you’re a parent longing for a bit more quiet in your day. It’s also ok to be sad if you’re in denial about how much earlier everyone needs to get out of bed, or if you’re a teacher still planning. The coming of a new school year brings with it the requisite purchasing of clothes, shoes, supplies, lunch boxes, and all the other goodies necessary to ensure our children hit their classrooms ready to absorb all the knowledge their teachers can dispense. Our school offers parents the opportunity to skip the endless running around for school supplies by purchasing a complete packet through our Parent Council. GENIUS. We’ve got a bit of time yet before school starts, but I’m ready to go as you can see — uniforms sized and hung, socks bleached (who am I kidding? new socks purchased!), lunch boxes, bags and shoes upgraded. It’s beautiful. Seriously.

Maybe the beauty of organizing is easier to see in my summer bucket list. My older daughter tends to be a bit more routine-and-schedule-focused, like me. So instead of a list of things we wanted to do over the summer, we created daily themes for the week and used multi-colored popsicle sticks to keep track of the days.

Not only did we have all kinds of fun things to do over the summer, but we had a handy countdown at the same time. I find beauty in that.

I just finished up a webinar course to help me as I manage this website and blog. The course was specifically geared for artists who want to be more creative with their online presence and marketing. One of my favorite sessions was the discussion of editorial calendars — how to organize your blog posts, newsletters, and social media marketing. I spent a whole afternoon looking at options to find just the right one I wanted to use. And you know what? Yes, it’s beautiful. Not in a vibrant, colorful, thought provoking way, but in a simple, clean, organized way — think mid-century modern rather than baroque. Not to mention that it makes my life immeasurably easier!

Why do we need beauty?

Once we’re old enough to assume responsibility for something, all of us make attempts to be organized. Why not make it beautiful? Bring art and beauty into your life wherever you can. Arrange your closet by colors, use pretty dishes when serving a meal, rearrange your books on the shelf to be visually interesting. 

Basil the Great said that we all desire beauty. I would suggest that we desire beauty because the One who made us is supremely beautiful and we are made in His image. C.S. Lewis asked, “The Order of the Divine mind, embodied in the Divine Law, is beautiful. What should a man do but try to reproduce it, so far as possible, in his daily life?” Where will you find beauty in your daily life? Where will you image your Creator? Leave us a comment or a picture and display that beauty.