rethinking spring cleaning

spring time is here, and we all know what that means: it’s time to bust out the old storage, donation and garbage bins. so many people see the coming of spring as a new beginning, as they absolutely should! the sun is back out, the air feels a little fresher, and you finally have a chance to throw hands with your seasonal depression.

one tried and true fashion of celebrating this new era is the idea of “spring cleaning”, aka the action of physically and metaphorically shedding the old to make more space for growth and abundance. everyone participates in this tradition in some way, but i want to focus on the behaviors and actions that may typically follow this idea of getting rid of the old by replacing it with “the new”.

more specifically, how many times are we going to fall into the trap of replacing rather than appreciating our newfound freedom from clutter?

so often people engage with the idea of spring cleaning through whatever they can consume already on their minds. “oh, if i get rid of this pillowcase i am going straight to home goods to find one that’s more my style” or “wow this pair of pants that work perfectly fine are not on trend anymore, so let me just donate these to make more room for another pair”.

the act of spring cleaning was originally demonstrated by ancient civilians of chinese, jewish and iranian cultures who all recognized the importance of sweeping out the parts of their home or themselves that were no longer needed in order to make the necessary room for the new year to prosper, but what fundamentals of these acts did they understand that may have been lost to time, societal norms, or capitalistic compliance?

maybe they were more spiritually connected without the distraction of the world at their hands through the internet or maybe they realized the old pelts from two winters ago were outgrown and needed to be repurposed without being served an ad that asked them to get the latest fashion. either way, their approach to diluting the old and making room for the new demonstrates that we might have lost the plot in our current day struggle of accepting what we lose.

understanding the cycle of what comes and goes is beyond my pay grade - especially because it’s such a personal endeavor to do so - but there are some nuances that should be highlighted when considering how much your spring cleaning is swallowed by an inability to sit in absence*.

*we aren’t talking about a lack, but rather a letting go.

to think about participating in overconsumption behaviors can feel icky, because it asks you to take a step back and recognize where you may be spinning on the wheel of unrealistic or environmentally harmful practices. who are you if not a consumer or a spender? what do you have to show for your life if not in the material sense? these are questions that should not only require thoughtful and considerate answers, but practicable action to follow.

when you partake in spring cleaning, you have to ask yourself what you are okay living without. it’s more than the action of throwing out trash or decluttering your space - it’s the art of embracing the relinquishment of what you thought you had to hold onto to make yourself feel comfortable. to negate the act of appreciating your loss for what it was inherently means losing the ability to understand go why you needed to experience loss in the first place.

the bedrock of capitalism will force you into cyclic behaviors of wasting and spending, but through intentional spring cleaning you can change what it means to be a participant in this cycle. you’re no longer contributing to waste as a means of replacement for something “new”, but purposefully creating a space (both physically and mentally) that allows you to explore how to live with the things you have and without the things you may not need.

so this year, when you’re considering how you can utilize the action of “spring cleaning” as a tool, try to expand the idea of it past your physical space. use it to help you readjust how you approach consumption in it’s simplest form by asking yourself, “if i replace this old item, am i going to be in this same position next year?”