The Liberation of Spring Cleaning

When I was a kid, back in Ye Olden Days of single family computers and "go outside and play with sticks or something," there was no part of the year I dreaded more than Spring Cleaning. That was the time when I would be forced to actually clean my room. Haul out all my toys and clothes and sort through things, probably have all my careful non-organization wrecked as my mother moved all my furniture and made me vacuum the carpets of the Hidden Places, and more likely than not have to give up a portion of my possessions as an offering to the Cleaning Gods. 

As a child, this was a Terrible Time because I felt like I had no control over any part of this process. I didn't like cleaning anyway, and making myself sit still long enough to actually sort through my things was almost painful. I can only partly blame this on being a little ADHD goblin - the rest of this was probably due to the fact that my mother was particularly thorough on her "no clutter" rule. She was adamantly anti-packrat, having herself grown up with my Nana, who liked to keep everything "just in case." 

Fast forward 25 years, however, and I'm in a house of my own, with a moderate amount of disposable income and some savings, and I'm planning to spend money on making this Spring Cleaning the most thorough and most effective it can be. And I'm excited about that. 

What changed? 

Was I brainwashed? Was it a case of "changing tastes" or "maturing" or some nebulous idea of "growing up" that happened while I wasn't looking? 

No. 

Looking back on my childhood, I can say with confidence that what I hated about cleaning was simply that I didn't know how to do it, and being left to my own devices with the instruction to "clean up" was really hard for my inexperienced, incomplete little brain to handle. As a 30-something in the prime of life, done with my required (and optional) education and now in possession of a fully grown and arguably functional brain, I have the experience and self-awareness to know that living in a cluttered, dirty space just stresses me the hell out. It's not that the appearance might make other people think badly of me. It's not that things smell bad (because they don't). Rather, it's something like... there are too many corners and rough edges for the bad feelings to snag on, and I can't "clear out" the space with all this garbage around. 

So even though my house is still technically livable and the mess is nominally acceptable, I'm going to be indulging in Spring Cleaning up to the hilt this year. That means rearranging furniture, that means buying new storage bins and shuffling things around, that means donating a bunch of stuff to get rid of excess clutter. And it means hiring someone to come help me do it, because my energy is still at a tragic low, despite all my attempts to address it. 

But y'all, I'm so excited. I'm so happy just for the future potential for a Clean House, and maybe even being able to host my friends for a D&D night or something. I'm so pleased and proud of myself for actually taking the steps to get this under control. 

So this is your sign to ask yourself what in your life or in your space has been catching and holding onto the negativity. Can you clean it? Get rid of it? Give it a proper home? Can you eliminate some of those corners and rough spots where the bad vibes are collecting? 

Once you know what it is, then you can actually start making a plan to deal with it. But that step can't happen until you know what it is you're trying to address. So be kind to yourself and give yourself the space and time to think. You got this, you magnificent imp.