Make Your Bed

We all have little quirks - habits that are a piece of us that don’t have to make sense to anyone else. And one of mine is that I need to make my bed every day.

It started when I was a kid. I shared a room with my sister and felt like my bed was the one part of the room that  was just mine, and thus the only part of the room I could make sure was neat. 

Then I started college and had roommates, so… same deal. 

And then… it stuck. Even when I had a room to myself, my bed being made helped me to feel like at least one thing in my day was under control. 

It may seem like a little thing, but to me, a made bed has come to mean so much more than just a made bed, which is probably why this particular quirk has become so ingrained in my life. I was trying to understand just why, though, making the bed has become more than just a household chore, and I think that there are a few reasons.

Routine: I find routine to be calming. I am not unique in this - in a chaotic world, familiar actions can reduce stress and anxiety. But especially as a highly sensitive person (HSP), routines can provide a break or structure in times when we are overwhelmed - it is a single moment or activity when we can know, with a low level of uncertainty, what to do and what the outcome will be.

Accomplishment: We never know where the day is going to take us. We all have a to-do list a mile long, but we also never know what twists and turns the day is going to take, so we can’t possibly know how much of those lists we are actually going to complete. I feel better able to dodge the unexpected curveballs when I know that I’ve at least checked off one thing from my list.

Self Care: I’m not here to start a debate about whether sleeping with the sheets tucked or untucked is better (#teamtucked). But I know how I like to sleep, and I know that making my bed in the morning is a kindness to my bedtime-self - that I’ve taken her needs and wants into consideration and done a small act of service to ensure that she will be comfortable.

So… what actually does making my bed actually mean? I mean, it’s such a little thing, right?

Here’s the thing. As with so many aspects of life, little things… are often the biggest things.

We all have that thing. That quirk. That habit. That routine. That little thing that means so much more. That gives us a moment of calm or of order or of certainty. That moment where the chaos feels controlled. 

It is something different for each of us. For me it’s the bed. For someone else, maybe it’s making sure the sink is clear before you go to bed. For yet another person, maybe it’s making sure the laundry is put away the same day you washed it. For others, maybe it’s meal prepping for the week. It’s that thing that we make time for so that we can remember that we matter in the midst of the chaos.

We each have our thing.

So give me a moment while I go make my bed.