It Makes Me Cringe.

Someone asked me, "what causes you visual stress?" it didn't take me a while to figure out what causes me visual stress, simply because I consider "clutter," as anything untidy and unpleasant to look at, something that makes me uncomfortable and cringe.

You see those people who after drinking a sachet of water or eating a biscuit and then throw the wrapper anywhere, ha! Nothing stresses me visually more than that ugly sight, I learned to be tidy right from childhood from my parent when I am in public and I can't find a proper place to dispose of any wrapper of water, biscuits or anything in my possession, I just fold it properly and keep it in a compartment in my bag until I get home. Many people are unbothered by that, as it's just normal for them to dispose of trash anywhere they like or those who urinate anywhere they like, Gosh!! It's such an eyesore to me.

In my country the bus conductors (they are usually the masculine gender) are mostly guilty of this act, even at a bus stop they just stand beside their vehicle and pee, causing distress to my poor eyes and choking us all with unpleasant smells as a result of a consistent act of indecency. Do they even think of the disease they might be spreading and even contracting from peeing in public places without regard for their bodies?

Another visual stress was one I encountered with a good friend, her name is withheld for some reason.

"But why do you do it?" I paused to ask one of my friends who wasn't so comfortable in her skin, I mean I hear very few musicians singing about Melanin popping but many in reality do not fancy that skin tone and my friend was among those who believed that she has to bleach her skin to feel beautiful. Truth be told, I loved her kind of black, you know that kind of black that shines so radiantly and free from blemish? That's the kind she's got and was damn gorgeous on that melanin pigment until she decide to bleach her skin.

I couldn't figure out why she chose to stress herself that much just to fit in society's standard of beauty. It caused me so much stress trying to wrap my head around her reason and I mean her skin was becoming an eyesore. Hyperpigmentation here and there which looked so untidy for my liking and I just constantly have to force myself to take my eyes off her body.

Should I even talk about the smell oozing out from bleached skin when they sweat? It's a visual stress to me, a very unpleasant sight that irks me. Being a minimalist I do not fancy going to the extreme to fit in the standard of beauty based on the judgment of others, it costs so much, your hard-earned money to buy all sorts of creams which have so many harsh chemicals which in turn damage your skin and put you at risk of cancer and another health-related disease. I do enjoy keeping everything simple from my skincare to my everyday life, my skincare routine even mostly natural products like honey, coconut oil, olive oil and the original blue Seal Vaseline, just because whatever skin tone given to me by God must be well cared for to show appreciation for it.

Then when it comes to staying very organised, I love my things properly arranged, even in darkness I should know where to find whatever, it saves me so much time and stress looking for an item, this is why I do not fancy staying with others in a room, especially those who are unbothered about keeping their things properly and organised, they claim, it's our room, nobody will find out its this messy, I mean how do they cope? At the sight of an untidy room, I am automatically stressed as I can't concentrate or be productive for the day which is why I ensure to have my things well-placed. Each month I ensure to declutter my room and give out items I do not need anymore which will just take all the space in my room and leave it messy.

Should I even go ahead and talk about wearing all shades of colour on one's hair? I mean I see ladies rocking yellow, purple, green, blue and all sorts of colours of weave or wig and it stresses me visually, I can't cope with it at all, well everyone has got their taste and I am not here trying to judge others for the way they choose to live their life, I am only saying this sight makes me so uncomfortable, do we need to do too much to stay beautiful? I love it very simple and minimal as possible which is why I ensure to care for my natural hair which can be styled in different ways and if I choose to wear a wig, I make sure they are very decent and pleasant to look at because in my world, "Less is more."

All images used are mine.

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Thank you for stopping by, till we meet again, this is Amie Geoffrey.