Put some SPRING in your spring cleaning!
I certainly don’t dance like this enthusiastic lady breaking out into a jig over clean laundry, but I have to admit: I LOVE CLEANING.
We often associate cleaning with words like chore or drudgery, but cleaning can be a perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness: to be fully present with even the most simple of tasks.
I actually enjoy the meditative repetition of chores like dusting, folding laundry, or vacuuming. Tidying and organizing satisfy my Type-A inclinations, and create what, to me, is a relaxing home. So as you embark on your spring cleaning projects, put a little mindful spring in your step!
Like this lady. Because ELECTRICITY!
The 20-year-old-me-in-her-first-Women’s-Studies-class in college would certainly have shuddered at the thought of enjoying cleaning, and I’m quite sure she pledged to avoid a life of domestic drudgery. She would never dance with or celebrate new appliances. {She totally got it when Annie in Father of the Bride broke down in tears over the gender politics of receiving a blender as a gift}.
And yet…
There’s something viscerally powerful about coming downstairs in the morning to a shiny and tidy kitchen, walking barefoot on clean floors, inhaling the gentle lingering aroma from my essential oil cleaning potions blends, and inhabiting a space that allows spaciousness.
Although I don’t do this in the morning….
Cleanliness and Mindfulness
Just browse the home decor section of Target or Kohl’s for a few moments, and you’ll find plaques that say things like “Good moms have messy kitchens, sticky floors, and happy kids.” That platitude just doesn’t work for me. It’s a little judgy in its simplistic formula for “good” motherhood, and it kinda sounds like a gateway decoration that leads to being featured on the next episode of Hoarders.
Don’t get me wrong, my house is certainly not a perfect example of cleanliness and organization all the time. And as busy moms, it’s perfectly okay to cut ourselves some slack and just take a nap instead of polishing the floor.
Or dance while polishing your floor. You’re your own best teacher. It’s your call.
But clutter and mess drive me crazy. Visual clutter makes my head feel cluttered. It’s hard for me to sit in meditation if I know toys need to be put away, dishes need to be done, or dust bunnies have gathered in the corner and need vacuuming.
On the (polished) surface, my need for a clean space and my frustration with mess seemed a bit unmindful to me ~ shouldn’t mindfulness allow me to accept the present moment, even with all its messy imperfections?
Well, yes… but there’s a difference between allowing something to be what it is because it’s here and it’s happening, and sliding into passivity and inaction. I’ve learned to accept that messes will happen, and I don’t have to get angry at the floors for being dirty. I just need to clean them.
The Taoist practice of feng shui can teach us something here. Feng shui recognizes that our lives are profoundly impacted by the spaces we inhabit, and our homes can either enhance our life energy, or drain it. Clutter, disorder, and dirty certainly drain my life energy!
For me, a clean and organized home allows my mind to quiet, and helps me live more peacefully.
Tips for Mindful Spring Cleaning
When you clean, JUST CLEAN.
There’s actually research to back this one up. Harvard researchers have found we are happiest when thought and action are aligned. As Jason Castro writes in this article for Scientific American, “A person who is ironing a shirt and thinking about ironing is happier than a person who is ironing and thinking about a sunny getaway.” I’m guessing that’s what the smiling ladies in these ads are doing. (Or it could be the Valium. I’m really not sure).
Put meaning in cleaning.
Spring cleaning can be drudgery, if you choose to make it so. Or it can be a way nurturing yourself and your family. As Karen Maezen Miller writes, “The daily rituals of housecleaning enfold your life in dignity, because they are nothing other than the way you care for yourself.”
Take a deep breath.
Try some aromatherapy — diffuse your favorite essential oils while you clean, or make your own natural cleaning products with your favorite scents. You can use lavender, citrus oils, or eucalyptus — all of which have cleansing as well as calming properties. (And are much safer than Valium).
Clear the clutter.
Physical clutter can be mentally draining. This is a great time of year to sort through your belongings and decide what can be donated and recycled, and what is essential.
Happiness guru Gretchen Rubin writes that we can “cultivate a true simplicity, in which we’re both surrounded by useful, beloved things and free from the oppressive weight of meaningless possessions.” Just look at all those ladies sparking all that joy.
When we make cleaning part of our mindfulness practice, we infuse even the most mundane of acts with dignity and purpose.
So put on your pearls, high heels, and a fancy polka-dot dress and put some meaning into your spring cleaning!
*****
{Photo Credits: Tide ad from Vintage Ad Browser, “Cooking with Electricity” from a Sears manual discovered in the basement of my old house, Mrs. Frank J. McKay from Jamie on Flickr (Woman’s Day, March 1951), Hoover ad from The Gender Ads Project, Created by Scott A. Lukas, Ph.D., Created in 2002, South Lake Tahoe, California, accessed on May 16, 2013, and Lux ad from Vintage Ads Browser, fair use.}
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