Keeping Up
Maintenance on a daily basis
The Secret Life of Maintenance
The cleaning lady comes on Fridays. By Friday evening, the house glistens. By Sunday morning, the dog hairs are swirling down the hall again. The dishwasher is full, dishes crowd the counter, and I wonder how we got here so fast.
Just because something looks great today doesn’t mean it will tomorrow.
How quickly everything returns to what I call “minimally acceptable household existence.”
What I didn’t realize until recently is that this isn’t just about my house — it’s about everything.
If you want things to stay sparkly, you have to keep after them. Constantly. Just because something looks great today doesn’t mean it will tomorrow.
Life takes constant maintenance
We create things — spaces, relationships, businesses, even ourselves — and they all require tending. If we don’t maintain them, they start to crumble. From the minute we’re born, we’re moving toward entropy, but we spend a lifetime trying to hold it back with effort, care, and, yes, money.
…the endless dance between order and chaos.
At this stage of life, my “maintenance budget” is higher than ever — physical, emotional, aesthetic. Everything I own or love demands attention. The house. The dogs. My body. My friendships. Even the mementos I collect on my travels — I adore them, but they have to be dusted and given a home.
I once heard advice about children’s artwork: admire it, take a picture, then release it to the universe.
That’s the sanity code.
Now I apply it to my keepsakes too. I photograph them, store them on my phone, and let them go. The hidden gift? Every so often, my phone surprises me with a slideshow — little reminders of where I’ve been and what I’ve loved. No dusting required.
And maybe that’s the deeper lesson:
Life isn’t about avoiding the mess or achieving permanent sparkle. It’s about learning to love the rhythm of renewal — the tending, the restoring, the endless dance between order and chaos.
Because maintenance isn’t the enemy of joy. It’s the heartbeat of it.
Today I pulled the Eight of Pentacles, and I had to laugh. Of course I did. It’s the card of devotion to the everyday — of showing up, doing the work, tending the details that no one else might notice.
This card reminds me that maintenance isn’t punishment; it’s the rhythm of a meaningful life.
The sparkle doesn’t last by magic — it lasts because we care enough to keep polishing.
Whether it’s a relationship, a home, a dream, or our own sense of self, everything worth having asks for attention. And maybe that’s not something to fight, but something to embrace.
Because in the repetition — in the dusting, the mending, the returning — we build the quiet beauty of mastery.
Tarot Pull
Eight of Pentacles
Today’s card is the Eight of Pentacles — a reminder that mastery and beauty are built one small act at a time. The secret to a shining home, a healthy relationship, or a peaceful mind isn’t a single grand effort, but the willingness to keep showing up. Maintenance isn’t monotony; it’s devotion in motion.