雜亂的生活環境對人造成的影響可能多種多樣。在雜亂的環境中，有些人會變得難以集中精神或入睡，但也有人能享受被雜亂的物品包圍的感覺，甚至會因為收納和清理個人物品而感到緊張。本文探討整潔和雜亂的生活環境分別對人有哪些影響。
詞匯：decluttering 清理
Are you the kind of person who needs a pristine, orderly environment for you to feel relaxed? Or perhaps being surrounded by your clutter isn’t a big deal – it might even bring you comfort. ‘Professional organisers’, who help people declutter their space, have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly on the internet. But does shedding your possessions always make you happier? Or, does clutter matter?
Living in a messy space can have various negative effects on our lives. For example, a study called ‘No Place Like Home’ by Repetti and Saxbe, found that mothers with messy homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and an increased depressed mood throughout the day. Messy homes can also make it harder to fall asleep, according to the 2021 study ‘The association between sleep and late life hoarding‘, and no one wants that!
So perhaps Marie Kondo, author of ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’, was on to something when she said, “tidying can transform your life”. To achieve Kondo’s style of minimalism, she recommends gathering all your things together, choosing which items ‘spark joy‘ and then discarding the rest. Some may find it invigorating to begin again on a clean slate, while others, particularly extreme hoarders, can find the process anxiety-inducing, because of an attachment to their belongings.
Then there are those who simply enjoy collecting. Vintage style expert Kate Beavis has a home filled with handbags, toys, phones and cookware from the 1960s. Others may call this clutter, but she argues that minimalist homes are “boring and bland”. Some items may not have a practical use, but instead hold sentimental value, and spark joy in a nostalgic way. And things that “evoke happy memories are valuable, especially to people with memory problems,” says Chris Stiff, senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University.
Maybe a giant mess isn’t all bad. And as Albert Einstein once said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
詞匯表
pristine 整潔的，嶄新的
orderly 井然有序的
clutter 雜亂的東西
declutter 清理，整理
shed 丟棄
possession 所有物
messy 臟亂的，不整潔的
cortisol 皮質醇
hoarding 囤積
tidy 整理，使…整潔
on to something 發現某事的真相
minimalism 極簡主義
spark joy 激發快樂，引起愉悅
discard 丟棄
invigorating 令人充滿活力的
clean slate 一張白紙，比喻嶄新的開始
hoarder 喜歡囤積東西的人
collecting 收集，收藏
sentimental value 情感價值
nostalgic 懷舊的
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. What does a ‘professional organiser’ do?
2. What are two negative impacts of living in a messy?
3. True or False? Marie Kondo recommends discarding items that spark joy.
4. What does Kate Beavis think about minimalist homes?
5. What does Chris Stiff say about nostalgic items?
2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。
1. The kitchen was covered in _______, making it impossible to prepare dinner.
clutter cortisol collecting possession
2. I didn’t like your idea at first, but now I think you’re _______.
on to something minimalist hoarder sparking joy
3. His desk was always very _______, with everything in its proper place.
messy organisation orders orderly
4. Moving to a new city gave her the _______ she was looking for.
fad clean slate pristine shed
5. You can’t throw that away! It holds too much _______.
nostalgic invigoration decluttering sentimental value
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. What does a ‘professional organiser’ do?
A professional organiser helps people declutter their space.
2. What are two negative impacts of living in a messy space?
Two negative impacts of living in a messy space include higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, increased depressed mood and increased difficulty falling asleep.
3. True or False? Marie Kondo recommends discarding items that spark joy.
False. Marie Kondo recommends discarding items that do not spark joy.
4. What does Kate Beavis think about minimalist homes?
Kate Beavis things minimalist homes are “boring and bland”.
5. What does Chris Stiff say about nostalgic items?
Chris Stiff says things that “evoke happy memories are valuable, especially to people with memory problems”.
2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。
1. The kitchen was covered in clutter, making it impossible to prepare dinner.
2. I didn’t like your idea at first, but now I think you’re on to something.
3. His desk was always very orderly, with everything in its proper place.
4. Moving to a new city gave her the clean slate she was looking for.
5. You can’t throw that away! It holds too much sentimental value.
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