Thursday, December 9, 2010

OCD? Or just plain ol' ANAL?

Do I have a mild case of OCD? Or do I have a bad case of being anally retentive?

I often wonder what drives me to be picky over the silliest things.  Take for instance today when I picked up a paper clip to attach a card to an invoice.  The card was the BRIGHTEST of neon pink. The random paper clip I picked? It was red. And I couldn't possibly use it. It just wouldn't do.  It would clash... hurt my eyes... disturb my equilibrium.  So I put it back and used a blue one instead.  Why did it offend me so much?



It's a bit like my penchant for colour coded Excel spreadsheets.  It doesn't matter if they're for my own personal use and will probably never be seen by anyone else, but they have to be pleasing to the eye and perfect... with the spacing all even and the lines all neat.  And blue lines, not black. Crazy? Obsessive? Nah...I just like looking at nice things.

 But then there's the case of my regular every day black and white plates. I've had them for 10 years or so and whenever I stack them back in the cabinet I have to occasionally have to STOP myself from placing them alternately black, white, black, white.  It's not a glass door, so nobody can see them.  Sometimes I let it ride and leave them looking all neat and pretty.  But occasionally, just to prove to myself that I'm not completely nuts, I will be strong and pile them up haphazardly, willy-nilly, 2 black, 3 white, 1 black... 

2 comments:

  1. I can definitely relate to your post. Did you know there's a theory that half the people in the world are 'visuals' and the other half are 'auditives'? Apparently, our life partner is always our opposite, as we're not sexually attracted to someone like us (although we can be good friends). And if you have kids, the first born is like the parent who desires a child the most (95% of the time it's the mother) and the second is always the opposite? Third-born and upwards can be one or the other.Well, visuals SEE the world with colour and order,and we listen to the tone of voice when someone talks to us. Auditives don't seem to mind mixed colours (like a red paper clip on a pink paper)and they listen to the message said instead of the tone of the voice. So I don't think of myself as OCD or ANAL...those expressions were probably made up by an auditive! LOL

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  2. That's great! I am definitely a 'visual'! I always have to see or read something to make it crystal clear. I'm also fascinated in how people think or imagine things. Like if I think of a span of time, whether it's a year or a century, then I always see it in my mind as an arc. Strange huh?

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