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The study showed that while clutter doesn't really bother men, women get so stressed about it, their cortisol levels spike, which is undoubtedly one of the main factors that cause them to buy shoes, right after the existence of shoes. Although most of the homes had backyards with grills, decks and pools, more than 75% of parents never spent any leisure time outdoors. "They have the investment and the space, and they don't carve out the time," Arnold said. "It's sad." If she's this harsh on modern families, I can't imagine what kinds of things she said about digs of the Chumash of the Channel Islands, whose kids seem to spend an awful lot of time painting caves.
My cortisol levels felt fine, but as soon as Arnold left, I went on a spree, throwing out 56 books, 18 refrigerator items and, because I value relationships over material possessions, zero shoes. It was hard to do much more. I grew up in a tidy, modern house, but I'm a sloppy overvaluer of my belongings. My books remind me of college, and those corks remind me of times we broke our bedroom rule. And if I'm honest, I want people to walk into our single-fridge home, look at our wine maps and think we've lived a sophisticated life. "We wrap ourselves in these objects because they talk about our history, and without them what do we have? They're our biographers," Arnold had told me. That's why I was so nervous showing her around. Also, I was afraid she'd see the glass animals I've had since high school, once stored in boxes but now on my office shelf. I've got a cruel biographer. You can tell by all the black leather boots.