The absurdity and the value of stigma

Although becoming a cleaner was intentional, I struggled with stigma and shame at the onset. I internalized the stigma of being the one who cleaned up after others. As a result, I often preferred to display my "better" credentials than the fact that I am a Nigerian immigrant in Canada who cleans homes and offices. Which MBA grad and Banker in his "right senses" chooses to be associated with broom and mop when he could easily be an Investment Banker, a Consultant or a higher profile Entrepreneur especially when named "most likely to make a mark in the world" by classmates?

It seemed shameful for a Nigerian Canadian Banker McGill MBA grad or any human being to be a Cleaner. Privately I loved cleaning. Publicly I battled shame.

I once went to clean a short-term rental apartment where I saw two visiting Nigerian schoolmates. I was super quick to point out I was the owner of the company, studying at the prestigious McGill, which were true but I knew I was hiding the fact that I was a cleaner. I failed to see that:

 '' cleaning only enhances, and does not diminish any object or subject it touches ''.

Clarity, a by-product of cleaning, destroys the power of shame and turns stigma on its head. Clarity takes us to the richness on the other side of stigma and shame, which are products of fear. It took years (yes, years because I needed a lot of cleansing and still do) of immersion in cleaning and reflection on what it truly means to be a Cleaner rather than how society defined a cleaner, to realize that:

'' Cleaning is the process of removing dirt from any space, surface, object or subject, thereby exposing beauty, potential, truth and sacredness ''

It was an epiphany and when I saw the beauty of cleaning, I could not help but embrace it. Clarity made it difficult to be ashamed. Cleaning became larger than a chore or an occupation for untouchables but a practice, paradigm and privilege that transcends and applies to every human being, job, profession and industry.

While it can be very lonely, it is necessary at times to be the only one seeing what you are seeing. The majority is often wrong and since we mostly use 10% of our brains, our judgements are probably wrong 90% of the time and more when you consider how limited our brains are even if we used a 100%.

 '' We can often find our way by going in the direction everyone is not going ''.

By becoming a Cleaner, I seemed to be stepping into a box but in reality, I was stepping outside, into freedom. Taking on the cleaner garb stripped me of my reputation, my career prospects and my flashier titles allowing me to act from my humanity and not from a label. By becoming a "failure", I crossed the fear threshold into freedom to play, experiment and do crazy things like invite CEOs to clean toilets!

I decided to use the "Cleaner" label instead of flashier labels because of the vastness and universality of the cleaning metaphor and also because I had nothing to lose anymore. What better label to embrace when you are stigmatized than the word, "Cleaner"? Ironically, I found my calling after I lost my "career". I am creating an outside-the-box career that integrates my uniqueness: my personality, my gifts, failures, experiences and "stigmas" rather than settle for what the "market" offered.

Your job or career is highly unlikely to be available in an imperfect market driven by imperfect humans who use 10% or less of our imperfect brains. More often than not, whether you are an employee or entrepreneur, you will have to create your job, starting often with what is available on the market. Thankfully,

'' the universe unfolds when we throw caution to the Spirit, step out of the box, defy shame and ridicule and follow the road less travelled ''.

Stigma and shame are however not uncalled for. They are effective deterrents belonging to dishonesty, abuse, dehumanization, avarice and malfeasance not with honesty, generosity, humility, empathy and service, which cleaning trains us for. Why would we deter cleaning in a world that reeks of all kinds of mess? Why would we stigmatize the act of cleaning up any kind of mess? Why should any human being be ashamed of uncovering beauty? Why else are we here? We should stigmatize and be ashamed of the act of maliciously creating and spreading tangible and intangible dirt not the act of removing dirt we generated.

''The only business cleaning has with stigma and shame is to clean it ''

Cleaning the tangible and the intangible needs to be honored and dignified not stigmatized because we are in desperate need of Cleaners in every area of human endeavor.

I am a Cleaner. Aren't you?

Tolulope Ilesanmi