Get Your House In Order

So, I kind of alluded to this way back when but (as with so many other things I write about) I decided it needed its own post. 

You know how your living space just feels so much better after a good cleaning? Kind of similar to how you feel after a good long shower on a hot day? And how you, in turn, feel so much better inside that clean living space?

Nearly every major religion follows some form of ritual purification, in which a place or person is cleansed in order to prepare it/them for a special activity. Hey kids, I think we all just figured out where the phrase "cleanliness is next to godliness" came from! But anyway, yeah, just as you wouldn't put on an evening gown immediately after going for a five-mile run it doesn't make sense to hold a special event in a messy room. Most conventional wisdom holds that cleansing the space contributes to the power of the ritual by clearing out stale or harmful energy and preparing the space for what's to come.

And here's the thing - why not try to think of every day as a special occasion? Because it really kind of is, I mean, the fact that you managed to be born at all is a pretty amazing coincidence and every day that you're still standing is cause to celebrate, even a little tiny bit, even those days when everything is just flat-out wrong and you'd be perfectly fine curling up on the couch with a blanket over your head and waiting for it to be tomorrow. But I digress.

My point - and I swear to whatever you want me to swear to, I really do have one - is that if you're going to practice mindfulness and broaden your scope (and I'm hoping that if you're reading this blog on the regular that is a part of your general plan) why not start with your living space? Clear out all the spiritual and physical gunk and let your home as well as yourself start each day with (more or less) clean and sparkling energy. It's like a hot shower for your home!

Now, I'm not advocating neat-freak-ness. That would make me a hypocrite, as anyone who has ever seen the inside of my car can attest (and yes, I am very aware that I should keep my car more clean. Here we have a sterling example of me needing to take my own advice). Just, y'know, a little straightening up at the end of the day. Push the vacuum around before the dust bunnies start to take over, even if it's right before the encroachment starts. Dust your flat surfaces if they're looking a little dull. Go to bed with a more or less tidy home and you'll wake up to inspiration and hopefulness. I know it sounds like hippie-dippy nonsense, but I'm dead serious.

Tomorrow's Foodie Wednesday, wherein I will be much less ... oh dear, I almost said "fruity." Oh look, I just did. It's very hard for me to resist a terrible pun. Anyway, I'll see you then!

- Sarah