Spring cleaning must be a topic of interest to me because when I went to save this title as I began to write, it was the fourth spring cleaning column I had saved over the past 20-plus years. I will go back and read them after I write this just for fun to see if there is repetition. I am not sure how much more there is to write about spring cleaning, but here goes.
My mother likes "things" and she likes a lot of them; however, she has an amazing knack for decorating and making her home look beautifully inviting with all of these collections. When I begin to get too many things, I tend to feel claustrophobic. There is something therapeutic about cleaning out for me especially in the event of a hurricane, a tropical storm, a change of season, a garage sale whim, or just a can't find anything to wear in my packed closet kind of day. I am forever cleaning out and organizing, but my husband refers to it as moving things around. (That’s a column for another day)
Once I waited for him to leave on a turkey hunting trip to clean out his closet. Nine bags later and a trip to the Goodwill his closet was bright and shiny and fresh. There were some of his favorite things that were never found again, but it is the price we have to pay to get organized. (Again, another column)
Spring cleaning is reported to have several different origins. There is a connection to Passover. In preparation for this Jewish celebration cleaning takes place. Catholic churches clean in preparation for the Lent season. And people in our country have been known to clean at the birth of spring because the weather is warm enough to open doors and windows but still cool enough to deter pesky insects.
All of these explanations make total sense to me after researching them, and yet there is a deeper whisper from within that compels me to dig out, chunk, bag up, and organize when those first sunny afternoons peak through the sprouting oak limbs and colorful blooms blot the landscape.
The long dreary winter months are edging away as the earth tilts ever more and the sun shines a bit brighter, the air gusts slightly fresher, and the old which had fallen into a dormant state is snipped and tossed into a burn pile so fresh growth can make its way toward the sunshine.
Perhaps this is why we metaphorically use the term "spring cleaning" when addressing great changes in our lives. There is no broom or box involved when we refer to this event as a chance to toss the old and bring in the new. Just when those New Year's resolutions are beginning to gather dust the spring recharges us to dare to grow with the forest and grassy fields. To spread out our branches along with the oak and maple and the last to wake up, the pecan.
Passover was the beginning of great change and growth for the Jewish people, and preparation for the Lent season is also a time of renewal as we humbly and soberly prepare for the celebration of His resurrection, or I guess we could say a new birth for mankind.
I believe our instinctive desire to clean out, freshen up, plan anew, and refocus on the next round of seasons runs far deeper than deterring insects. Shakespeare played upon seasons as the four stages of our lives in his work. Spring being the beginning.
Here's to the beginning of round 54 for me. Wherever you find yourself on this spinning wheel, may you follow a favorite Irish Proverb, "If you do not sow in the spring, you will not reap in the autumn!"
Cheers!
