Today, Spring Cleaning is more of a tradition that a necessity. It’s kind of interesting to note why spring cleaning is such a grand tradition. Back in the olden days, people used to heat their homes with coal which produced a sooty residue on furniture, walls, and linens during the cold months of the winter. When warmer weather arrived, houses required a full scrubdown to get rid of all the soot and grime. Since we use much cleaner heat, we don’t have to worry about this sort of thing. But there is that end of winter feeling to contend with. Everybody sits around, windows shut, breathing all over everybody. Paraffin residue from candles, dust, dirt tramped in from outside, salt. As clean as our heat may be, nothing feels or smells better than that first day of spring where you can throw open the windows and air that shit out! Truly, fresh air is a dust mite’s worst enemy.
WHY is Spring Cleaning so important?
It feels natural, feels like a cycle of nature. It helps you get back in touch with the natural inclination to shed the old and make room for the new. Like our physical bodies shed their skins so that the new can come in. It’s a way to keep the energy in your home clean, clear and alive.
How can decluttering and organizing my home help my emotional well-being?
If your surroundings are cluttered and weighed down, you will feel the weight on your mind or feel it as a burden. You have to keep the relationship with your home 'healthy' and to do that you must keep it clear.
Some people fail to realize that we are effected by our surroundings, it has an impact on us. By being aware, you can stay feeling internally clean and light by staying on top of your clutter. Like a relationship with another person, you need to deal with the "stuff" in your home as it comes.
How can a busy person start to make a dent in the problem?
You can literally go insane by trying to keep up with modern, American life. If you don’t have time to keep your space in order, that’s a sign that something is out of balance in your life. Ultimately we are in control of our lives, you decide in the end how to manage the time. It’s about taking back charge of your life. It may appear you have to say yes to all these commitments, but maybe you really don’t.
If you don't use it often or absolutely love it - donate it, toss it, regift it....bottom line - get rid of it! For everything else, it's important that everything has a home. One of the most important things to remember is that you're home wouldn't have clutter if you would simply put it away after using it. You have to be willing to put in the time it takes every day. Otherwise it piles up and it starts to feel like a stress. Just a few minutes every day makes a big difference at the end of the month. One thing you can do today to start reducing paper clutter is to sign up to receive less junk mail.
Well, what about my junk drawer or junk a.k.a "storage" room?
You need to make wise decisions about the stuff in your home. You need claim your home as your own and know that you can decide what to have in it. Have clear cut boundaries and don’t feel guilty about not displaying someone’s gift to you that you don’t like. You’re free to choose. You are the “artist” of your home and you are responsible for it. You might as well be happy in your home.
In the following days I will be posting Spring Cleaning Tips/Checklists to assist you in reclaiming your home.
Be proud of your home and rid yourself of the CHAOS "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome".
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