With the short days of winter, it’s not uncommon to build up some clutter in our homes. With all that extra time we spend indoors, we accumulate things, and sometimes leave out things that are normally put away (scarves in my case). But as the daylight slowly lengthens and welcome signs of spring appear, the clutter of our homes can also clutter our minds. A little spring cleaning can help boost our mood, alleviate stress and enhance our overall well-being.
Spring Cleaning – A Little History
Though it may feel this way from the commercials forced on us through TV, spring cleaning is not just a clever way to market home cleaning products in March and April. The history of spring cleaning can be traced back to the beginning of many cultures across the world.
In terms of Chinese culture, spring cleaning is traditionally embraced as a time to renew and reinvigorate a space. For the Cantonese, Ninyabaat is the 28th day of the 12th month on the Chinese lunar calendar and a saying goes along with the date – “Wash away the dirt on Ninyabaat.” Cleaning your home is meant to get rid of bad luck in the home and usher in the good luck for the new year ahead. Chinese New Year is traditionally thought of as a time to bring good energy to the spaces in one’s home by scrubbing, reorganizing and ultimately creating an optimal layout for tranquility around the home and office.
In Iran, the spring cleaning ritual is known as “khaneh takani” which translates to “shaking the house.” Originating from Iran’s pre-Islamic past, each year on March 21, the day of the vernal equinox on the solar-based calendar, every single corner of the home is scrubbed down and cleaned including all furniture, rugs, floors, ceilings, and house decor. New clothes are purchased and fresh flowers are placed around the house to symbolically welcome a fresh new start. Once the house has been “shaken” it allows for spring to arrive.
Also in connection to Iran and the traditions celebrated by over 300 million people around the planet, the Persian New Year of Nowruz holds considerable precedence in terms of what may very well be the origins of spring cleaning. Observers of Nowruz celebrate the “rebirth of nature” by reinvigorating their homes with new fixtures and replacing their old garments with new ones.
Spring cleaning can also be traced back to the beginning of Passover. A popular Jewish holiday, this time of year symbolizes the freeing of the Jewish people. Unleavened bread, which many of us know as Matzo, symbolizes the fleeing from Egypt as they had no time to let their bread rise. Following with this tradition, traditional Jewish households don’t want to have any leavened bread crumbs in the house, thus a cleaning of the entire house follows along with the ritual.
The Greek, who call the week before lent “Clean Week” is a time when folks clean their homes both inside and out. Other sources have discussed February 23rd, the first great day of lent, as “Clean Monday” which is a big holiday in Greece. Much like the Chinese practices behind cleaning your home in order to create good energy, the “Clean” in Clean Monday refers not only to the cleaning of your residence but also the cleansing of the body and spirit. Many traditions to celebrate the arrival of spring occur along with Clean Monday, one of the most popular being embracing the beautiful weather by kite flying.
Here in our office, we embrace spring cleaning by getting rid of clutter from our meeting rooms, rearranging some of our work spaces, and placing many fresh flowers around the office to keep the rooms fresh and vibrant.
Cluttered Home Cluttered Mind?
You’ve probably heard that phrase before, but what’s the science behind it? It’s simple really – when you look around a cluttered room or home, it adds stress to your life by thinking of the additional work you need to do to get your home in order. That stress impacts your brain’s ability to process important information efficiently and your mind feels “cluttered” just like your home! And we certainly don’t need the added stress of not being able to find something when we’re rushing out the door. Clearing the clutter of our home has been proven to sharpen our minds by removing the visual stress of the mess. A good strategy for keeping your home clutter free is to do the work in bite-sized chunks. Take 10 minutes every evening to walk around your home and try to identify 10-20 things that may need to be picked up or organized better. Even if it’s just picking up your child’s socks from their bedroom floor, every bit contributes to your mental health and mental clarity for the day ahead.
So as you leave the winter chill behind and embrace the warmth of spring, leave the clutter behind and go forward with a fresh attitude for change!