I let go of cleaning the house and embraced the mess. I chose myself | Saima Mir

After realising I had time to either do household chores or write, I decided to give up caring and be creative instead

When I lived alone, my sisters would joke that I'd have them eat over the sink if I could, to avoid crumbs.

I was organised. When I left the house at 6am for the early reporting shift at the local paper, you wouldn't have known anyone had slept in my house. The bed was perfectly made, the breakfast things cleared away, the bathroom mirror wiped clean and the hairdryer placed neatly in the drawer.

Saima Mir is a freelance journalist and author of the 2021 novel The Khan