But are we? really?

[oursin]

Why are we so fascinated by super-organised homes?

I did not know we were?

And okay, when I began to read that I was thinking, if that was in a novel or a movie, surely one would be thinking METAPHOR! SYMBOLISM! - just me? but then further down I see somebody invoking

[A] concept called symbolic pollution,” she says. “In the context of household organisation, this term refers to items that are out of place and violate the rules we set for our surroundings … For some, the process of removing this pollution and putting things in order causes them to feel they are in control.”

Yeah, paging Mary Douglas, right?

Anyway, this made me think about labelled canisters in the pantry when I was a young'un - there was a set of tin canisters which I don't know where they had come from, but anyway, it was a classic case of - I'm not sure I can fully remember what was in which, but it was, more or less, ordinary sugar was in the one marked 'Sugar', but brown sugar was in the one marked 'Rice' and the one marked 'Tapioca' was where we kept the string: that sort of thing.

Which led me to think more generally about the life of my parents, who, once my brother was at school, both worked, but nonetheless, had time and energy over to engage in various activities mostly connected with the Methodist Church, such as running youth clubs (and I think at one point Wolf Cubs?), teaching in the Sunday School, being a steward, typing the stencils for the orders of service; and as I recollect, having some kind of general familial and social life.

Is this sort of thing still A Thing or are people really micro-managing their lives for maximal efficiency, and if they are doing other things than JOB it is SIDE-HUSTLE?