When I was recently in Japan I was teaching in a building in Akihabara. I was struck, as I often am in Japan, by the contrasts between the exterior and interior environments.
Around the building the streets looked like this (all these photos taken from inside the building)
And inside the building it looked like this (again all photos taken inside the same building)
Heroes Not Zombies 
What a striking contrast.
I find myself feeling the need to control the inside environment because I know for sure that I can’t control the outside. I think that’s why I get so frustrated and I feel so “off” when I feel I’m losing control of the house – if I can’t keep a few rooms clean and tidy and pleasant to be in, I’m in big trouble…
Ah mrschilli, you’d fit right in!
Actually, what you describe is a very common phenomenon. I think that being overwhelmed by chaos is a fundamental human fear – we all need to feel some degree of being in control. What many people do is try and bring some order into their immediate physical environment, a sense of order that brings comfort, the comfort of the familiar and the predictable.
Amongst the things I find most striking about Japan are contrasts, paradoxes and juxtapositions. The ancient and the modern, the ramshackle and zen-like minimalism, chaos and order, sit side by side everywhere.
I find myself trying to bring more chaos to what seems too ordered, and more order to things and places that seem chaotic. I guess I strive for balance…
Yes, donna, I think you do what we all do – we all try to get some ease in our physical environments. What really interests me is how there is no right or wrong level of order or chaos. Instead, it’s different for each of us. In fact, for everyone, there will be differences of opinion about what exactly what “too ordered” is (and what “chaos” is!)