spirit of cleaning

In tending our spaces, we make magic.

I see home care rituals as an opportunity to nurture our spirits, by utilizing practices to call in protection, and guidance...all the while making beautiful space to relax our earthly bodies in. I see our homes and natural landscapes as one; if we tend to them, they love us back. Everything is everything-when I see the world as animated, everything holding a charge of it's own as well as gathered energetic presence, my relationship to my environment holds meaning and heightened purpose. Simple daily rituals can facilitate appreciation and reverence when viewed as contributing towards making life feel more enchanted and our days more intentional.

Periodic home cleansing-be it the deep monthly drawer and closet purge, to weekly tidy up and wipe downs, are an opportunity to synchronize with the time of the seasonal transition. Autumnal release mirrors the desire to shed in our bodies and homes, just as spring represents ushering in new energies.

Cleaning is practice for making more room for spirit, intuition, and creative flow in our lives, an appreciation for the everyday magic found in the mundane. I value shape, arrangement, color, combined with herbal knowledge and plant spirit work to imbue the process. Seasonal shifts are a prime time for moving energy and reinvigorating our humble tasks at home.

With home as the place that I create and recalibrate, it's efficiency and feeling are important to me. A clean clear space enhances focus and sense of wellbeing, tending to it is a moving meditation. Ever since I was a kid, I would move bookshelves and bureaus 3x my size in order to make the room feel better and look different. I craved change, order, and a sense of control. Instant gratification.

Some ways I bring peace into my studio are common practices; dusting, mopping, washing linens frequently, keeping laundry in check. I've realized there are some specific thought patterns I have in each of these acts. When I mop, I add a herbal aromatic water to the bucket for energetic protection and cleansing. I dust the tops of things: books, floor/door molding, windows, mirrors, the forgotten spaces. I wipe down my plants with a damp rag and coconut oil, so they shine and photosynthesize more easily. I strategize rugs so I can move them easily to sweep under them or shake them out, the idea being everything is easily moved and accessible so energy can't get stuck under there. I want any item in my space to be able to adjust or move freely. I balance metal and glass (which is cooling) with wood and natural materials (warmth). With house plants, it's nice to have round leaf buddies to balance out the spiky ones, as they are more welcoming. Just as I believe in connection through our energy to the living world, I feel that our dwelling spaces and inanimate items that we hold close have some energetic charge. It can also be a single room, shelf or corner that is your own if not a whole home. I tend to family photos, I put out the jewelry and medicines I use daily. By cleaning and rearranging, we are feeding the energy of our space, to hold more of our intention of love and care. I let go of what is no longer needed to make room for the new.

4.3.2020