Spring Cleaning

All your necessities: spray bottle, soap, gloves, rope to tie
your husband up unless he buys you flowers.

Last night, when I got home from work, I found myself busying around the apartment.  My fiance was out talking with some neighbors and I had said hello.  But when I went inside to put my lunch down, I was pulled to begin cleaning more.  Monday night was scouring the shower and last night, to go through several boxes and piles of paper.  My birthday is fast approaching and holds the possibility of my family coming to see me on that day.  And see the apartment.  I want it to look as presentable as is possible.

After being called by my fiance and asked to come back outside and then talking to the neighbors until almost nine at night, we came in.  My fiance was kind enough to go through the boxes I had pulled out and made dinner.  I wrote a quick blurb last night (sorry about that!) and worked on a project for a coworker.  We went to bed with an amount of peace.

This morning, after my fiance has left for work, I am sitting on the couch, indulging in chocolate chip pancakes (courtesy of muffin mix recipe) and a cup of coffee.  I began to think about the idea of cleaning.  Growing up, I hated cleaning.  It took away from time outside, in front of the TV or in a good book.  Time away from walking to the library or visiting with friends.  As a result, my room was almost constantly a mess.  I argued that I function in organized chaos, that when everything was clean, I couldn't find anything.

When I moved to college, I found myself trying to tidy up.  The room would get to a point where I would have to give in and begin organizing and making sense of everything around me.  Cleaning the way I have been lately has given me time to reflect on the way my cleaning has evolved.  Perhaps my lack of cleaning, my disorganization, was an outward projection of the inward chaos I was experiencing.  During that time, I was not a happy person.  I was struggling to keep the smile on my face.  I dreaded facing those kids at school.  The names and the cutting me down.  I drowned myself in my studies and playing violin but even the violin stopped bringing me a lot of joy.

It was then that either I or Fate needed to start cleaning.  Cleaning my life, that is.  In middle school, Fate allowed me to change schools.  I was able to get away from the darkness that lingered in every doorway.  No one knew what those other kids said.  A fresh start.  But Fate wouldn't allow me to get away that easily. We moved near the end of my high school career and I was plunged into a personal darkness.  I don't think it was until almost halfway through college that I began to try cleaning my life.  I tried to eliminate the negative energy in my life and surround myself with positivity.  That's when I began to clean both inside and out.

Spring cleaning is something that happens every year.  We freshen the world and ready our houses for the upcoming warmer summer months, months of parties and celebrations, of cookouts and friends.  But we also must remember to freshen ourselves.  No, I don't mean taking a shower.  I mean an inward reflection of how our lives are.  Perhaps we have been putting off an adventure we want to take.  I, for example, hope to travel abroad again (of course, it will have to wait until after the wedding!).  Perhaps there is a hobby you have wanted to take up but haven't had the opportunity to as of yet.

When it comes to Spring Cleaning, there are many possibilities.  Open yourself to life as it is currently and what life can be if you allowed yourself to experience it.  Cleaning doesn't stop when you Spring Clean.  You have to maintain the cleanliness.  Of the home and yourself.  Meditate or try new focus methods.  Spot clean something every week.  Go through clutter on occasion to eliminate excess.  When we live in excess, we are excess.  When we live with necessity, we are necessary.  Until next time, enjoy a thing called, "La Vie."