There are two kinds of cleanliness: clutter-free and germ-free. Often, they oppose each other, but truly spick-and-span people understand that they're not mutually exclusive.
I don't have the interest or self-discipline to be one of those people (or, the money, as people like my father hire out cleaning) to file away each piece of paper or hide the bunch of bananas. I let the clutter pile up.
I don't like germs, however. I spray. I scrub. But I often am criticized by those whose countertops and desktops are bare. Their floors may be disgusting -- and there's something about disgusting floors that repulse me from eating from their kitchens -- but their space appears cleaner than my space.
I think there are pluses and minuses to each philosophy. I also think that those representing my philosophy are judged more and understood less. My evidence? Well, based on how I feel after neat freaks question me. Totally empirical, I know.
A college friend had a license plate holder that said, "Creative minds are seldom tidy." I concur.
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