CLEANING HOUSE
Sometimes the best form of therapy is “cleaning house.” Especially when you take on the task of
cleaning out a closet or a drawer where you have thrown a “little of this, and
a little of that,” and realize you need to make room for something else. Some
of us call this our junk drawer and we let the junk accumulate in this space, until
it becomes overbearing for us.
As you go through your cleaning, you will always find things
that you do not want to throw away…you try to justify a good reason for keeping
them, instead of tossing them away. You
ask yourself, “Do I really need to throw this away?” Other times you’ll think,
“Why? Why am I holding on to this?” Sometimes the justification is, “I can really
use this!” Then, there are some items
that you find, that you will not find justification for, no matter how hard you
try.
Sometimes there is a sentiment attached to an object; but,
that sentiment is not necessarily good or bad…it is just something that has an
emotional attachment. If the emotion is
not a good one, get rid of that object.
Why keep something that emits bad feelings and regrets? Why look at it again and again? If the emotion is a good one, then find
somewhere to place that object so that you can enjoy that emotion when you need
a pick-me-up. Don’t hide it in the
bottom of a drawer or in the back of a closet.
Let is shine!
Remember, there will always be something that needs to be
thrown away or given away. If the object
is negative, holding on is not going to accomplish the task of cleaning your
house. The object will be thrown back in
the closet or drawer and allowed to fester, once more. It becomes a deterrent to getting the house
cleaned. In the back of your mind, you
know that negative object is sitting there and it is bothering you. Get rid of the negativity! Don’t let keeping it make you regretful of
that object.
The exciting part about cleaning house is finding unexpected
treasure. Have you ever cleaned your
house and found something that you had misplaced? There is a rush of adrenaline
when you find those things. There have
been times when I have found something and exclaimed, “Oh, there you are! I thought I had lost you.” It is such a good feeling to find something
that was treasured and lost. Just think,
if you had not cleaned house, you would not have found that treasured item. Cleaning house can be very rewarding, as well
as therapeutic!
Finally, there are different approaches to cleaning house,
too. Some people like to clean the whole
house in one day. Others choose to clean
one room at a time and may split the cleaning into several days. Some people clean every day of the week,
others once a week or once a month, some people clean only when they have too,
some clean when they are forced, and there are some who never clean (and are
quite content to live in their own filth).
Yes, there are even people who pay others to clean for them. There are also the people who want to clean
everyone’s house, but their own. They
can tell you what you need to do and how you need to do it; however, they have
no idea what to clean in their own house.
Regardless, each one of us must decide how and when we want to clean in
our house.
When will you clean house?
What house will you clean? ~Muriel
