I hate cleaning, but I love the way I feel after it's done.
Today was the first day of school. Just to be frank, nobody wants to start school on a Friday - not even professors (as evidenced by the fact that my biology professor didn't even come to class today, just sent someone else with a sign-in sheet). After school I spent the rest of the day and night cleaning the house from top to bottom.
I'm an avoider by nature. I've developed the tendency to hide from problems rather than facing them head-on. It's a wholly unhealthy flaw that I actively work to confront. In my house, this manifests itself in that messes and such usually get the "I'll just deal with that later" treatment. Unfortunately, in situations like these, later rarely ever actually arrives.
Cleaning for me is like eating vegetables is to a kid - the act of starting to do it is the hardest part (once I'm doing it I often find it's not so bad at all, I might even be enjoying it!) The act of cleaning isn't actually a painful one. Rather, it's one I quite enjoy.I've found this process to be a cathartic one. The process of decluttering and refreshing my environment invigorates me. I generally finish the act feeling fresher, lighter, like I've turned over a new leaf. In those moments (our hours as the case was today) I am able to be alone with my thoughts, prayers, and reflections. While physically sorting out the junk and trash that has been left about carelessly, I get to do the same emotionally and spiritually. I turn over dusty, long-forgotten parts of myself and ask "Is this something I want to keep? Do I need this? What is the significance of this part of me?" I clear off the cloudy dirt on my heart and let fresh light shine in, removing old warn-out bits of self and making way for fresh new ones. In these times I have the opportunity to renew myself in the act of renewing my environment. Whoever thought counters could be so enlivening?
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