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Episode 414 – Making space for Spring

• Welcome my friends
• I am thankful that you are here
• And I am thankful that it is spring
• I posted an episode on welcoming spring last week
• You can tell I love spring and I hope you do too
• Because I have another episode today for you on spring
• Although this can apply to anytime of the year
• but it’s another very practical episode – just like our episode from Monday on preventing jet lag
• its about spring cleaning
• I was curious
• Why do I get antsy this time of year to start cleaning?
• I don’t even schedule these cleaning times, they simply happen
• I look longer and harder at certain spaces in my apartment and they suddenly start to bother me
• And I get up from whatever I am doing, usually something important
• And I start cleaning
• And I feel this need to make room more profoundly in spring
• So I started to research a little bit
• According to Wikipiedia, spring cleaning may have originated In Iran, where the holiday Nowruz, or Persian New Year, coincides with the first day of spring.
• The 13-day celebration traditionally involves cleaning (or “shaking the house”), buying new clothes, and spending time with family and friends. 
• But other cultures have a similar tradition
• In Jewish custom, spring cleaning is linked to Passover in March or April, which marks the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt.
• Before the start of the holiday, a general cleaning takes place in order to remove any yeast products from the home.
• In Christian custom, the Catholics clean the church altar the day before Good Friday, also normally in March or April
• Members of the Greek Orthodox church clean thoroughly either right before or during the first week of Great Lent, which is referred to as Clean Week
• These are just a few example –
• It seems to me that cleaning activities are related to preparation for something new
  • To make space
  • To get rid of the old and to welcome the new
• For me – cleaning, reorganizing, and purging are activities that make me feel good
• After several months of winter-related inactivity and hibernation due to a lack of sunlight and cold weather, the sun gives us a renewed energy and motivation
• I can definitely feel it and you may too
• While cleaning may not be the first thing on your mind on what to do with the extra energy, allow me to motivate you today
• I am not the first to jump up either when its time to clean
• In fact, you may recall that I hired help this year for that
• But, of course, she will not sort through my messy drawers or review my closet for stuff I haven’t worn in years
• That is still my job and its an important one
• Here is why
• Studies have shown that clean homes make us happier and healthier
• Cluttered homes, on the other hand can contribute to depression, fatigue and stress
• When my apartment is cluttered, I am less productive because clutter is a distraction
• It draws my attention to it
• I may get up a million times to organize it and never get my actual work done
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• But at the end of the day clutter is clutter, even when its somewhat organized
• And what it tells me is that I have too much stuff
• I recently moved offices at work and was amazed how much stuff I had accumulated
• From every job I have had I have carried paperwork with me that I have never needed, never looked at, never looked for
• It has shrunk over the years, but it was still there
• I threw it out
• I have affinity for pens and stationary
• So you can imagine, I also have a ton of that
• In addition to boxes of paperclips, staples, tape and so on
• Way more than I can ever use because I really hardly staple, tape or clip paper anymore
• I mostly work on my computer and only use one pen and one pencil a day
• And when I need some kind of document, I don’t look through my files to find it, I look through my emails and then the folders on my computer
• Times have changed, but it appears to me that I am still stuck in the past at times
• I find it amazing how much stuff we think we need versus what we actually really need
• My new office looks exactly the same as the old one but it feels so much better
  • I can see the bottom of my drawers
  • There is space in my shelves and cabinets
  • My desk and my guest table are clean and not covered with stuff
• We all have areas in our house that could use some attention
• It may take some motivation to get going,
  • In my case it was forced because I had to move offices and I didn’t feel like carrying so much stuff down the hall
• But we don’t have to wait until the next move to start gleaning and clearing out
• its feels extremely rewarding to create some space and organize our current home
• I am sure you have felt it before after you took old clothes to goodwill or remodeled a room
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• So I want to encourage you today to make yourself happy
• Not with meditation or journaling or a walk, as I usually suggest on my episodes
• But make yourself feel good by creating physical space in your life
• Space allows us to breathe
• To focus
• And it calms us
• Looking at an empty table versus a table covered in papers – give it a try and you will notice what I noticed
  • Stuff is distracting
  • It will call on you to do something with it
  • It will constantly make you feel guilty “ah I need to clean that mess”
• Empty space energizes me
• It lets me focus on what I am working on and sparks my creativity
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• Declutter, organize and polish – whatever it takes for you
• Start by sitting in your house and simply looking around
• What catches your attention?
• When I first moved into my apartment, I had room in my huge wall closet
• Now, after over 2 years, I started noticing stuff piling up on the ground
  • When you are shoving things in to make them fit
  • When its harder to see what you actually have
  • When items that don’t belong together are mixed together
• That’s when you know – its time for some spring cleaning
• The space has been maxed out and needs decluttering and /or organizing
• If you are like me, you have more than you need
• even if you live in small space, like me, you probably have more than you need
• we all do
• it’s a side effect of living in a consumer society
• mountain climbing and traveling a lot have taught me the difference between need and want
  • when I live out of a suitcase or a backpack, then that’s all I need
  • everything else that I have at home is extra
• we all have extra stuff – for just-in case or for when we might need it
• and just as with my office and all the stationary – we have stuff from times past
  • from when we used to do things a certain way
  • from when we had a certain hobby or practice that we don’t have anymore
• you can start there
• ask yourself – what has changed in my life?
• My eating habits have changed a lot
• I used to have a pantry full of foods
• Slowly, over time I got rid of all the cans and gallons of maple syrup and soy sauce that I bought at Costco and that I don’t eat anymore
• Food items like that, if not expired, can be donated
• That applies to a lot of things
• On my balcony there is a hammock I am thinking of right now and chairs that I have not used since moving in
• Time to get rid of it
• We change
• Our habits and our interests change
• But the remnants remain in our lives and crowd our spaces
• Give these things to people that could use them right now rather than waiting for old habits to come back
• They usually don’t
• Thank the items for the service they gave you and let them go
• Next – start small
• ask yourself – what area of my house bugs me the most?
• It might be one that you see most frequently or where you really could use some organizations
• For lots of people I would guess it is their closet
• My suggestion is that you always try to get rid of something, even if your main objective is to organize and clean
• You are already right in the middle of it – so you may as well purge
• And as I said before – we all most likely have to much
• There is something in everyone’s house that is not used or needed anymore
• Purging makes space
• And more space makes organizing whatever remains easier
• I don’t have a weekend free to clean my place top to bottom
• So I do small projects as I can fit them in
• When I see the windows all dirt during my morning yoga practice I might tackle those on the upcoming weekend
• When I cant find something in a cabinets that’s all messy, I clean that
• People shy away from spring cleaning because they feel they need to clean everything
• Pick just one thing
• Maybe the curtains haven’t been washed in a while
• Maybe the floor underneath the sofa hasn’t been cleaned in some time
• Look a around and take notice – what would really make you feel better if it was cleaned and organized?
• Every time I look at areas I cleaned and organized, I look just a second longer and it makes me happy
• Its quite an amazing feeling
• I have a few areas in my house I recently organized and it makes me feel so good when I look at them
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• Lastly
• A Word of caution
• Don’t buy more things to organize what you already have to much of
• Companies like Container Store sell amazing storage solutions
• I know- I used to work for them
• And I love their products
• But they are again – just things
• Stuff to hold more stuff
• Instead of buying more stuff, get rid of stuff
• I like to challenge myself by forcing myself to make do with the space I have
• When I organized the floor of my closet, I first thought I should go and by some plastic drawers to accommodate all the stuff that had accumulated
• But then I just got a couple of trashbags and threw a few of them away and boom – space made
• Freeing myself of access stuff feels so liberating
• Give it a try
• Instead of buying more stuff, buy yourself some happiness by getting rid of stuff
• You can always buy more
• There is no shortage of goods in our economy
• Getting rid of things seems to be so much harder to do
• So go with the harder of the 2 – it will feel more rewarding

Enjoy this spring season my friends

Much love