Millions of people see staying home and cleaning as their idea of a good time
wsj.com
wsj.com
I've always found the "CleanTok" phenomenon fascinating (from a distance) because I'm a self-described clean freak and those kinds of videos do absolutely nothing for me. Compared to:
> From her home in Yelm, Wash., 41-year-old Gretchen Barocio follows online cleaning star Jack Callaghan, who brings viewers along as he degreases the oven or scrubs the toilet. Barocio finds it calming.
> “He uses the same products and follows the same routine,” says Barocio, a human-resources professional. “I like watching because it makes me feel like my life is organized.”
What makes cleaning my go-to stress reliever is the fact that my shower is, in fact, actually clean after I've scrubbed it. Merely watching someone else clean their own shower doesn't offer me any catharsis... but for other people, it seems like it does.
An interest in watching is no surprise to me. In fact, there's a variety of cleaning simulators on Steam, moreso than most weird "simulator" niches.
I found the game "Unpacking" to be kind of fun and charming.
My problem is that I'm so greedy for my own time that I struggle to find enough of it to spare towards monetization in order to be able to afford to do slightly more expensive activities (like overseas travelling). I spend a lot of time reading books and articles, writing comments online, working on open source, hiking, swimming, snorkeling, gold fossicking, other outdoor activities (all free/very low-cost activities). If I had more money and time, I would tinker with electronics more. If I had even more money and time, I would travel more. I have so many things to do within my low-cost plane of existence that I don't even have the time to fully imagine what I would do with more money. I lost my job a few months ago and I like having extra time. Having time to do what I want to do is 100% worth being an employed loser IMO. Only issue is making it sustainable. That's why I'm working on a side project now.
Please expand!
Long term / retirement sustainability is what I'm working on. Damn requirements overruling the nice-to-haves.
Yet I waste hours on HN! How does that work?
2) It's a private pleasure. The doing, and the outcome can both be internally justified. I have no doubt much of it is done for approbation by others.
3) There are good indications cleaning, being motivated to clean, are signs of a healthy mental outlook. You can be quentin crisp and say "after the first 5 years the dust stops moving" and still be fine, but it's more usual to be in a mental decline. People are not stupid, they pick up on these clues.
I don't think very much "cleaning for sex" actually happens.
Now you tell me!
Before, I considered a good time a lengthy amount of geeking something out. Wether it was a scientific topic or even just a video game.
Now I have a small entity of continuous entropy generation, who is also a black hole of my time and attention. It's all for the better, but I can't deny that my world and priorities have entirely shifted. And no, son, putting that toy in the trash can is not cleaning up. Even if that looks a lot like what I'm doing daily.
I mean my idea of a good time is the same thing but with home improvement, which doesn't seem much different. You put up some shelves, those shelves are put up.
To connect with the technology theme, I think these tasks make me a better professional. Being able to enjoy the mundane makes code maintenance less awful (keep those patches coming!). Being able to quiet my mind leads to clearer thinking and creativity when problem solving and in crisis (code red!). And, there is some research that suggest fine motor tasks lead to better memory.
Now I need to unload the dishwasher…
It's a great feeling when you're finally back to clean and tidy and at least the illusion of future efficiency.
So I panicked a bit and just got cheap Chromebook. Because of having both projects and needing to put a lot of energy into the contract, I assumed that fixing the laptop was going to be too involved. So I kept deciding "I don't have energy for it this weekend".
Turns out, all I had to do was remove the back cover and then the heat sink. And then pull/blow out the piles of furry dust out that were totally blocking the air flow. I didn't need to buy or replace a fan and I already had the correct screwdriver (which I had assumed I needed to buy a new one along with a fan).
I guess the point of the story is that after a certain amount of time, people might want to clean their laptop intake vents or open it up and clean inside in that area.
Motorcycles, for instance. I have friends that enjoy working on them and cleaning them as much as riding them.
I have noticed I appreciate what I have a lot more when I spend time cleaning, performing routine maintenance, etc on the "thing" (whatever it may be)
Perhaps more to the general point-- reality tv has rooted itself into the modern entertainment ecosystem at the speed of English Ivy. Other than the cooking shows, the cast are ostensibly chosen for narcissistic traits and then goaded into incorrectness for the pleasure of the viewing audience. Again, the outcomes seem randomized, probably to milk the endings for maximum intensity.
It's almost like that entire reality genre were carefully cultivated in a lab as a counterpoint to your comment here.
"Reality TV" shows like "Ridiculousness" (hour upon hour of groin-shots) resemble what the movie "Idiocracy" portrayed in 2006 ("Ow! My Balls!").
When "hits" like "Jackass" are given platform and marketed toward youth who partially identify with Steve-O and his band of drop-outs, even though they aren't shown as heroes the emphasis is on the humor of their hijinks not the disastrous consequences of having given themselves wholly to wanton self-destruction.
"The Bachelor/Bachelorette", "Married at First Sight", "Real Housewives of [place]", etc - play on the commoditization of intimate relationships, reducing life partners down to nothing except the degree to which they approximate the standard as presented within the media - a status symbol: as either a Sex Object or a Success Object, and only to the degree that it fits with one's need for narcissistic validation.
I didn't see "Cocaine Bear" but I have heard of "Straw Man" - maybe it's the same thing.
>"The Bachelor/Bachelorette", "Married at First Sight", "Real Housewives of [place]", etc - play on the commoditization of intimate relationships, reducing life partners down to... either a Sex Object or a Success Object
How exactly does this not fit with traditional morality? People have been using marriage for this ever since marriage was invented, it's actually the normal state, and the entire reason that marriage was invented. The idea that you should marry someone you love and have feelings for is a new concept.
Or if they decide to care about the inheritance more, they do the opposite and you get the Habsburgs. (And, for some reason, British Pakistanis.)