Every once in a while, I feel like I’m creatively drained. I guess it’s a natural by-product of writing and editing several articles every day.

When I worked as a journalist (I was an Arts & Entertainment Critic and feature writer), I usually wrote two stories a day. I used to think that was hard, and it is if written well, but I had it easy back then. The only real difficulty was trying to write in a busy newsroom with lots of noise and distractions.

When I’m feeling drained, I tend to do a lot of work around the house. I take my frustrations out on inanimate objects with a scrub brush, vacuum and broom. I clean and organize everything – compulsively – and it usually does work to make me feel better.

Why do I clean instead of exercising or some other stress relieving tactic? Well, for one, the house needs cleaned constantly when you have a little destructo toddler around, who also picks random bits of stuff off of the floor and puts it in his mouth.

The other reason I clean is because I can control the outcome. I know that when I’m done the house will look nice, and I will be able to immediately see the fruits of my labor. I also know that it makes my wife happy, and she will praise the work that I’ve done.

Subconsciously, I think I clean because I’m hoping that the external order will translate into internal order, and when taken together, my life will be more harmonious and stress-free. When I feel this harmony, it inspires my creativity. I write some of my best posts immediately after a good house cleaning.

The problem I run into is that cleaning the house is a lot easier than cleaning my mind – dirty thing that it is and all. It’s hard to flush negative thoughts down the drain, or sweep real problems under the rug. These things are distractions to my creativity, passion and enthusiasm.

As a writer and publisher, I have to find ways to work through periods of stress, depression or fatigue. I’m not always going to be inspired to write, but I am disciplined enough to do it anyway.

So, while I wait for my muse to return, or at least for a couple of sparks, I’ll be cleaning the hell out of our house…inside and out…quoting Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “Out, damned spot!”

Are you a compulsive cleaner? If so, why? If not, why?

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