Wanna Meet My OCD Diva?
On several occasions, after giving a tour of the Cross House, my guests said: “You have OCD. Like me!”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because the house is immaculate. I’ve never seen a construction site so clean.”
“Ahhh. But, that’s not OCD. That is learned management. Long ago I learned how vital it was to keep any construction site clean and orderly. It took me years to learn this. I call it OCD On Demand.”
“Oh, no. You’re just in denial. You obviously have OCD.”
We went back and forth about this for a while and then I said: “Please follow me.” I then walked them to my minivan, and opened the sliding door. Gasps were heard at the sight of an impressive mess.
“OK. You definitely do not have OCD. But how can you keep such an immaculate house while living with such a messy car?”
“I told you. OCD On Demand.”
Today, I called on my inner OCD On Demand Diva.
For many many years, every time I needed a replacement vintage turn-key socket, I would groan, walk over to the big socket box with shoulders slumped, and dig though the pile of old sockets looking for a matching one. I would particularly groan if I needed a matched set of, say, 5. This would entail dumping out the box on my worktable, and looking at every single socket until the needed number was on hand. And every single time I did this I would think: this is a stupid system.
But today…drum roll, please…with help from my OCD Diva, I resolved the issue:
I have never seen anything so beautiful.
Each plastic container has X sockets inside, like Webber, P&S, Perkins, or whatever. There was a lot of socket manufacturers way back when. And now, each manufacturer has their own little labeled box.
I even tested each socket for the all-important CLICK regarding the turn-key. For, no Click = no working.
Because I do not actually have OCD, this project, while thrilling to me, is rather sloppy. If I truly had OCD, each box would have a lid so, when stacking them, each box would be at the same level. And Post-It labels with names scribbled on? Please. These would be printed labels, dahlink.
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Ha! Excellent system you have there, and YES to learned management. You are very wise to know thyself so well…
I’m predicting that summoning one’s “OCD on demand Diva “ will be the Ross pro tip of 2025!!
Yeah, no, that’s how I thought of OCD until my young daughter suddenly developed it this past summer. Turns out OCD is a horrible beast that consumes your life. It leads you on with false promises and tells you if you just do these few things then the crippling anxiety won’t overwhelm you. But the OCD beast keeps changing the rules making you do more and more things in hopes of having relief from the fear while all the time spent on the compulsions is just feeding the OCD and making it stronger. It most definitely is not a conscious decision to be tidy or even a dislike of clutter.
If you do suffer from OCD, or know someone who does, please, please, please seek a qualified therapist who specifically uses Exposure Response Prevention for treatment. This is treatable. See the International OCD Foundation for more info and for help finding someone in your area (the wait can be very long so start now).
Dear Christy,
I didn’t mean to suggest that OCD isn’t real and can be crippling.
BIG hug to your and your daughter.
Nicely done.
Thank you, Ross. I know it’s a comment in general use (I’ve done it myself!) and almost never intended as a slight. After seeing the devastating impact of the disorder first hand I just want to make sure people know that OCD is real (not a conscious decision or failing of willpower) and that there is help available. Thank you for letting me spread the word and thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. It does my heart good to see your progress be it big or small!
Post-It’s are fine. At some point a bin or two might have to be relabeled.
And I hear you. I have some things neatly organized and yes, even with printed labels. Other areas are a disaster. While I would like my entire house (yard and garage too) like your construction site. I am many years from that possibility, but I will be working toward it, one baby step™ at a time.
Well done. It’s difficult to stay really organized.