Occasionally I post daily thought’s that I receive in my email from Real Simple. I really like Real Simple. I was on looking for cake/dessert recipes (because I want to get back in to baking) and I came across this article at the end of a slideshow: 8 Secrets Why Women Love to Clean. I found this to be quite funny and interesting considering the cleaning spree I’ve been on recently. As I mentioned before, we’re moving and I’ve been taking my time cleaning out areas so that moving will be smooth and I won’t be stressing over what really needs to go with us and what will be trashed. I was also thinking a lot recently about why I get overwhelmed with feelings I cannot describe when I clean. Well as fate would have it this article landed in my lap and I’m going to share my personal thoughts on each of the secrets.
Let’s get to it!
- It gives you a sense of accomplishment: very true. Whenever a day goes by (like today, I was feeling rather ill) and I do not even do something small like clean the kitchen, I feel like I’ve done nothing. NOTHING. But after this post, I’m going to do it – I need to.
- It calms your mind: I’m not 100% in agreement with this. Sometimes while cleaning, I get more worked up if I realize there is actually more to be done than I expected or if the task to be done feels impossible to complete. And I have a few of those… But I still clean like crazy when I’m pissed.
- It’s a way to stay in control: It truly is! We can’t control everything around us but we can our personal surroundings. Even a basic clean up makes you feel like you you have everything together and you are – in control.
- It’s a stress reducer: Agreed! I find myself cleaning when I feel stressed out or I’m upset about something.
- It’s a form of meditation: I’d more say a shower is but I find I get a lot of thinking done when I am at the kitchen sink and it’s also why I don’t use my dishwasher as often; plus I hate the sound of it when I’m home. Folding laundry also gets me thinking and it also exercises my brain when I try to recollect what happened on the day I wore certain items of clothing.
- It’s a mood boosting workout: With this one, the first word I saw was workout but on the mood, I do feel better once I’ve cleaned – physically and emotionally. I always think of cleaning as a workout because if I’m on a roll, I like to think I could skip a session at the gym. My vacuum is a little heavy so that’s a good arm workout ;). But I do feel like the physical clutter is less mental clutter and I can move on to other things.
- It’s a reflection of who you are and how you feel: When you have a mess, it says you don’t have time. It says that you aren’t organized and you don’t have everything together. I have to say that I have bits of mess about the place that I’m working really hard to clean up. I guess that says where I am in life as well? Somewhat true, but at least I know I’m on the right path if that’s how I feel about my physical space.
- It’s a reflection of how you take care of yourself: As the saying goes “cleanliness is next to goodliness”. My mother would always get into a cleaning fit as she heard someone was passing by our home. Even if the house was clean, she’d still want any little bits of clutter tidied, go over the floors with the mop once and shut all the doors to hide any untidiness like my messy room :). Now that I live on my own with my husband, I know exactly what she was doing and unfortunately/fortunately I do the same thing. When someone enters your home, you want what they see to be a reflection of how you look after yourself. You want them to be comfortable and to feel like they won’t catch something from your home or have this lingering scent burning their nose. You want them to feel like your home is a good place, that you are a good person and you look after yourself and your surroundings.
Just a Dash 