The True Cost of Cleanliness: Commitment, Not Cash

The importance of being a hygienic individual can never be overemphasized, as it goes a long way in helping aid such individual wellbeing and prevent not just them from germs and illnesses but also their loved ones and environment. Being hygienic comes with intentionality, a kind of person, and dedication, so I'm always surprised when someone around me utters a statement such as 'I'm not clean or hygienic because I don't have money.' For one thing, those are not related in any way at all, and I can say this for a fact because I've seen people that are swimming in poverty, and yet their environment is clean, and so is their cheap clothing.

My belief is that being rich or having money in abundance only gives you the opportunity to afford everything you need that can be gotten with money; wealth grants you a better life and the opportunity to do things with little or no stress whatsoever. But then, even though when you're rich you can easily pay someone to help you with the cleanliness of your environment or the washing of your clothes, the thing is that if you're not the clean or hygienic type, you might not see the need to clean up or ask your paid helper to clean something up because it's not in your nature to do so.

Understandably, I know having money can grant you access to great skincare products, a constant water supply, clean environments, and the like, but the truth is that even though you might not be able to afford most of these things, you can still maintain a clean environment and wear clean clothes even if you're not rich enough to buy detergent. Everything is all about the individual personality. Take for instance, I used to live on a street where a mad woman used to live, and throughout my time of staying there, it'll surprise you to know that I've never seen the mad woman in a dirty state, be it in her clothing or the environment she sits in.

And that's because you'll constantly see her sweeping her environment and washing her clothes, even with the absence of detergent, and that draws me to a conclusion that she might have been a hygienic person before the mental illness befell her. Aside from her case, I've also seen people who aren't well-to-do, and yet when you visit them, they are always neat and tidy, including their clothes and that of their children.

On the other hand, you'll visit some rich people, and right from the entrance of their house, you'll see trash scattered all around, and they care less about it; instead, you'll see them driving big cars, and yet they can't or won't think of cleaning it until children in the neighborhood playfully wrote "please wash me" on the wheel screen that has been covered with dust.

So with that being said, I'll conclude with the take that cleanliness is all about mindset and individual discipline and not necessarily about the income, although income can foster it, but when you don't have a cleanliness mindset, then it'll be difficult to take steps towards ensuring your environment is neat when you have the money. Most hygienic people are known to not be the wealthiest. When you have a neatness mentality, regardless of your pocket status, you'll take intentional actions towards bathing regularly, brushing your teeth, cleaning your environment, and washing your clothes. Even if you have to reuse water for different things, you'll see them using it wisely.

Basically, to me, being hygienic has nothing to do with money; it's about your individual values, pride, and human dignity playing out. Meaning money isn't the root of hygiene; the root of hygiene, in my opinion, lies in our individual awareness, sense of responsibility, and a personal decision to cater for ourselves and our environment regardless of our financial status.

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All photos are taken and edited on canva application library.

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