I’ve been writing a lot, lately, about the closure of a chapter of my life; Mom and Dad sold their cottage and I spent a final week there with my family, and we moved the antiques and heirlooms to their new locations. With all that, I determined to press forward into the next chapter.
This weekend was the first, full, home weekend of the fall. No cottage closing stuff, no errands, just a very messy house, desperately needing some tlc.
How messy?
Well, with all the time spent getting the boys (and me) up north to enjoy the last cottage summer, it hasn’t been properly cleaned since June. So, let’s just leave it at, it was messy.
Two full days of work later, and we have a somewhat cleaner, tidier, more orderly and less cluttered house to live in.
Know what? It feels great.
I write a lot about living well; diet, and exercise, and stress management and so on. One thing I haven’t touched on is the joy of cleanliness, and the joy of letting stuff go.
My lovely wife always cleans the house before we go away for any length of time. She does this because it’s really nice to come home to a clean, tidy house. We let this slip over the summer, and having returned to it feels good.
And the cleaning process ran parallel to the decluttering. Make no mistake, these are very different things. You can have a nice, clean house that is still cluttered. You can have nothing in your house, and it can still be dirty.
Saturday, my boys and I went through large amounts of clothes to see what they’ve outgrown, we went through the playroom to see what toys they no longer play with, and I spent an hour in the garage simply getting rid of stuff.
It’s liberating to be rid of things you no longer need, or want. Holding on to things you no longer have use for, or even want, takes energy, and letting it go frees that energy up for something useful.
Want to live a better, healthier, happier life?
Clean.
De-clutter.
Throw away.
