That Sacred Rite of Spring—Cleaning

(Originally published 20 March 2011)

Here it is, the sacred sabbat, the Spring Equinox, the cross-quarter festival of Ostara, among other names, and a full moon besides. I feel I should be spiritual and profound, and all I can think of is Spring Cleaning.

In this season of new beginnings and new growth, of budding and flowering, perhaps the clearing out of the old, and creating space where fresh air and gentle breezes can blow, and energy can flow unimpeded, is in fact an appropriate metaphor to guide me.

As part of my ongoing Campaign to Conquer Clutter, to create and maintain various Oases of Order, I'm thinking of adding the following practice. In addition to the other challenge tasks I've set myself (as team goals of the Babysteps Brigade), on a daily basis I will attempt to do one thing in each room to improve the appearance, organization, cleanliness or functionality of that space.

I'll see how that works for me, and intend to report on how the practice has gone, and whether it's made a difference, come the next festival of Beltane. Bright Blessings to you all.

*************************************************************************************************

Note from 2021: That SPERD challenge (Something Positive in Each Room Daily) didn’t last long. It was replaced with SPED (Something Positive Every Day), as less ambitious and more achievable. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Babystepping My Way to Glory

(Originally published 26 February 2011) That phrase, “babystepping my way to Glory,” came to me while speed walking yesterday on my afternoon break, as I gazed towards a golden sun in a sparkling blue sky that was reflecting off the still white patches from our last snowfall. I had been doing my Louise Hay affirmations* and my lovingkindness meditation phrases* and my heart was full of gratitude, joy, and hope; I was delighted with the beauty of the moment and pleased with myself and the progress I'm making. This was a much different and better place than when I wrote my Bad Days blog less than 48 hours earlier. Yet while I could feel the power and energy flowing through me so freely, I did not fall into the trap of thinking this is how will always feel or should always feel, or it's going to be easy from now on, or I'm always going to get as much accomplished as I had that day. I won't automatically earn as many nutrition and fitness points or get as much declutte...
Read more

Bad Days

  (Originally published 23 February 2011) I really know I'm making progress now. Work was OK, but it's been a rough evening at home. Frustration and disappointment over vacation planning issues, with more frustration and disappointment over the failure of the new resistance cord DVD to offer modifications for stiff knees. In the old days, any stress at work or in life was an excuse to buy and consume comfort food — in my case wine and chips, or other high-fat foods. Not this evening. OK, I switched from salad to soup, but chopped and added fresh veggies before emptying the can of soup into the pot. I made sure I was maintaining my Oases of Order (those small sections of real estate I have liberated from clutter) in the kitchen while I cooked. I cleaned the litterbox (one of my daily routines I'm establishing) and put in my (minimum) organizing time in order to fulfill my Babysteps Brigade team challenge activity and earn my corresponding Other Goal point. I wasn'...
Read more

It doesn't have to be hard!

(Originally published 8 March 2012)  This is a comment I wrote on a Spark Friend’s blog about living with a recovering type 2 diabetic:  “What saddens me the most is that people assume change has to be hard. It doesn't have to be. Moderation and babysteps will produce improvements. We don't have to be perfect. As long as we make better choices most of the time, we will get stronger, slimmer, and healthier. To me, that's not hard--it's fun, it's empowering, it's motivating!” Losing weight, getting stronger and improving your health (or getting organized or making any other improvement in your life) does not have to be hard. But if you tell yourself it will be hard, or worse yet impossible, that will most likely be your experience. The question is, do you want it to be hard or not? Notice, I'm not saying it will be EASY to change. But it does require a willingness to make changes in the way you do things, and especially in the way you think. I love Louis...
Read more