I can’t recall the last time I had as much fun cleaning as I did earlier this week. AirPods in place with some great music, and with no real plan I started cleaning. First, on the main floor I dusted, vacuumed, put some things away and threw out others. After cleaning the counters and the refrigerator I wiped everything down, lit some candles and moved to the second floor, where I essentially did the same thing.
This four to five hour project was intense. We have all had the experience of seeing something that needs attention on our counter tops, and saying to ourselves “Not now, I am too busy, I will come back to this.” Which is fine, as long as we DO come back to it. If we don’t, the walls start closing in as piles of important and unimportant tasks clutter up our living space.
Literally, whatever in my space needed work got it. No putting it off. No delaying what needed to be done. Laundry: Check. Closet cleaned: Check. Dishes done: Check. Counters and bathrooms decluttered and spotless: Check. And within one extended and pragmatic afternoon, my living space is tidy and clean!
I have read about the benefits of keeping things picked up, and how important it is to have an organized living space. I realize that my environment is more or less a reflection of what is happening in my mind. But this cathartic experience of doing what needed to be done, in real time and not postponing or procrastinating was so liberating I wanted to share it here.
Literally, everything we see in our world is a trigger, a stimulus of some kind. We see a book on the counter and think about the title. We notice a photo on the night stand and think about the people in it, maybe we re-live the time frame of the captured memories. We hear a song and are taken back to another place and time. We smell a certain scent and can be reminded of another season. We see an invoice in the mail and think “Wasn’t this already resolved?”
Our minds are constantly taking in information and deciding what to do with it. If we are sitting in a messy space, even if we think we are relaxing, our minds are not relaxing. They are being stimulated and triggered, and are working to reconcile the chaos around us. We may not realize it but we lose a lot of energy and momentum by simply delaying the completion of what needs to be done.
If you need some suggestions on decluttering this Spring, try this article to start, or perform an internet search for one of your own to locate tips and strategies for Spring cleaning. As the dark, cold days come to an end, it is the perfect time to dust off the tabletops, counters and floors around us, and make sure that we are creating a space that is comfortable, peaceful, relevant and decluttered.
Turn up those AirPods and dance and clean like no one is watching. You may just find you love the space you are in, when it is a little neater. You may also tap into the natural, seasonal rhythms of Spring, renewal, and reconciliation. As we overhaul our living space in a building, house or apartment, the entire outdoors is also busy overhauling itself.
New buds are coming through the ground. Birds are singing. The air has less of a chill. The daylight lasts longer and we roll the car windows down. We can synchronize our indoor Spring cleaning efforts with the seasonal energy from the outdoors, when we jump on board with this natural mandate to get rid of the old, and make room for the new. And as we do, a new season is upon us and we again get to choose, how we will interact with the world around us.
And when we are done cleaning, we have the sweet satisfaction of sitting in a spotless, comforting environment. And that is the time when our intellectual creativity can truly kick into gear. Without the counter and brain clutter, we can hear ourselves think, and even become inspired to start a new project or hobby. But we have to clear the mess for these to emerge, both figuratively and literally.
What decluttering projects can we start as we move with the Universe into a new season? What new life is emerging? What clutter (habits, behaviors, thoughts) no longer serve us that we are holding onto? How can we engage in the natural ebb and flow of this fresh season, and do what needs to be done to get the Spring cleaning going and completed?
The answers are different for everyone. But whether we are open to Spring cleaning, or burying our heads in the sand, we can all benefit from decluttering our physical, and inevitably our mental space. We can follow our shared nature and go with the flow to create an environment that is friendly, welcoming and comfortable.
And if decluttering is not your thing, no sweat. We can always access peace and goodness by stopping what we are doing, closing our eyes and breathing deeply to arrive in this moment. Tidying up the room can be one way to achieve this, but meditation is an iron clad way to clear out the mental stuff.