Yay, Spring Cleaning

It is that time again. The time of year where everyone’s nose and eyes are a continuous stream of liquids and that scratch at the back of your throat just doesn’t want to go away. We cram allergy medications to have some sort of calmness from the bombardment of allergens that most of us suffer from. It reminds us one other thing that most of us were forced to participate in as youngsters. The dreaded, Spring Cleaning. You look around your abode and you see that closet corner with totes, shoeboxes, suitcases, U-Haul boxes or whatever you could find at that moment you stuffed random objects and clothes in to set you up for this annual celebration of cleaning out the junk. It is a metaphor, or at least I consider it a metaphor; out with the old and in with the clean. Three or four months after our New Year’s Resolutions we are set to embark on a cleaning rampage that our grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents would nod in approval.

It could be a daunting task to tackle this celebration known as spring cleaning, but it doesn’t have to be that bad. I have lived on this earth for almost thirty-nine years and I have experienced nearly every type of spring cleaning there is. I have had to clean out childhood rooms, barracks rooms, apartments, houses, back to apartments and finally, a house again. You look at the clutter that either you must get rid of or choose to rid of. Here is what I have learned about keeping your wits and completing the task.

The number one thing you must realize about starting this organizational process, is you don’t have to complete it in one day. Unless of course you want to, but it just adds stress. Block out little sections of time to tackle projects throughout a weekend or maybe an hour or so every night. You’ll have to spend more time on larger projects of course, like that giant corner in your closet that you neglected during the pandemic. If you break up the time, you get these small accomplishments and you'll get that warm fuzzy feeling inside, perhaps reward yourself with a candy; I prefer alcohol, but that’s just me.

Cleaning is the easiest of the spring cleansing tasks. You move large pieces of furniture around to get those pesky dust bunnies that have now turned into giant dust rabbits. You might get deep and dirty in the fireplace. You might even do a little rearranging, trying to find that perfect feng shui position of your now clean furniture. Remember to lift with your legs, and take care of your back. Trust me. As a military veteran, my back is now a constant headache and I regret not taking better care of my youthful days by trying not to lift a million pounds of weights. Don’t worry about getting those expensive cleaning supplies either. An internet search can give you simple organic home cleaning methods if you are not comfortable or can’t afford those neat and high-end cleaning products.

The next part of this wonderful experience of spring cleaning is the purge of old items. This is, for some, the hardest part. We as humans cling on to things like it is a vital part of surviving but let me remind you; those torn pants you haven’t fixed since 2009 can be donated, repurposed or thrown away. I know, I know. I personally HATE throwing things away too. I didn't understand why I didn't like it until I was forced to purge so much junk from my childhood. When I mean junk, I mean one-hundred percent junk. I was a military kid, we moved around so much, I thought that I could hang on to memories by saving these trinkets; like birthday cards I got from friends. Birthday cards. Were these collectable, one-of-a-kind, Bob Ross originals? No, they were hallmark birthday cards; some were not even funny. I hung on to them for sake of hanging on to them. It is comparable to when you dive into an old house thinking you'll find some meaning or treasures in an old suitcase or travel trunk. Nope, birthday cards. Even when I was tossing them into our recycling bin; it still tore at me a little. So, I know, I understand. It hurts a little if you are one of those persons who can't let go of something. You think that you will need it or reference it later, but you won't. Take a deep breath and get it out of your house. If it is donatable or worth something, then give it away or sell it. There is nothing wrong with making a little side hustle with what you kept for so long. I try to not be such a pack rat, and I am getting better. My kryptonite though, are t-shirts. I have this thing with t-shirts. I own more shirts than I care to mention, and I wear the same ones over-and-over again. I figured a while back that I would have this nerdy, or cool collection of shirts that I would only wear on special occasions or at least until my other ones disintegrated on my person. I have donated a large amount of shirts thus far and it feels really good. I still have a bunch to go, but I'm working on it.

Lastly on this spring cleaning adventure you found yourself doing is organization. This is a huge thing for me, because I am a little OCD when it comes to organization. Everything has it's own spot. I can move that spot, but if it is out, it has a place to go. I am fairly organized when it comes to my personal desk space or things that have on display. Even as I look around at my desk, I can see that I need to improve on this, but it is slowly getting better; small accomplishments remember? So here is my advice about organization. Don't go too overboard on purchasing things to be organized. Some things are good, for example: if you have a stack of books with no bookshelf. Then splurge a little bit or find that give away section on Facebook marketplace and get yourself a shelf. I promise you that indie feel you are trying to achieve by stacking the books you are actively reading is going to get messy once something knocks it over, like that stubborn cat that won’t listen to you. I found amazing sturdy shelves for relatively cheap on Facebook marketplace and it gives my house an adult look to it. Even if the books on those shelves are mostly made of science fiction, vintage Dungeon and Dragons source books, and a plethora of classics. Don't worry about buying fancy organizational things unless you TRULY need it. I say that because what happens in a month or so, is that thing now becomes a catch all clutter monster that you will have to eventually clean up again next year. Keep it simple. If you find yourself browsing Amazon like a lunatic at eleven-thirty at night, gazing at organization shelving for the bathroom, just remember that it's okay to hide away the towels in the closet. Unless you have one of those super tiny New York apartments that costs WAY too much in the first place and you physically don't have a closet to put anything in; then go ahead and get that behind the door hanging thing that you saw on a Tik Tok video.

In conclusion, spring cleaning is definitely for the birds. It doesn't have to be all that bad though if you don't try and finish everything in one go round, get rid of your junk, and don't overspend. You might be the type of person who wants to knock it out in one day. Then by all means, I hope you have your perfect cleaning montage set to your favorite music. I tend to have a much more relaxed time when I clean. I have a beer, I listen to some eighties music and I sometimes don't listen to my own advice and stress about not having a clean enough house. But that's just me. Cheers.