Cleaning is one of the best practices for my mental health
Today I let my hair naturally dry, looking a little messy in that beachy kind of way.
I’m wearing my worn denim shorts, an old t-shirt and bare feet in the house.
Hall & Oates is playing on the record player.
The rubber gloves are on, furniture is pushed into different rooms, my pail is full of hot water and lemon cleaner.
After vacuuming the house I’m now getting ready to wash the floors and I’m stoked about it.
Today is feeling very special.
The days that I do a big clean on my house I feel extra happy.
I feel like cleaning is one of the unsung heroes in the world of maintaining mental health.
When I clean I don’t think much about my problems or why I didn’t sleep well the night before.
All I’m thinking about is what I’m doing at that moment.
Dragging the vacuum across the floor and carrying it up and down stairs. Going from one room to the next on a mission to suck up every dust bunny and stray hair.
And then moving to mopping takes it to the next level.
Just when I thought that my floor was clean enough from “Hoovering” all around, I start dunking my mop.
With every submerge into the soapy steamy water, seeing it get browner and dirtier, my heart begins to flutter.
Progress.
That’s how I look at cleaning.
Progressing from a state of living in dust and grime to lightness of being. That clean smell and looking around at the shine is pure delight.
When I was growing up, cleaning was a daily occurrence in my mother’s house.
I would help my mom pick specs of lint off of the living room rug, “Windex” the windows and shake out the bedside carpets.
And it didn’t feel like a chore. I felt like I was contributing to the system.
Nowadays it’s become too easy to outsource our home maintenance. Something that I never heard about growing up.
But when my children were small I had such a person. She is wonderful and still a close part of our family.
But as time went on and our family grew, I started to miss doing the household chores and teaching my own kids the value in taking care of their home.
I may be overstating my love for cleaning but I really do feel that doing it myself brings me a bigger sense of satisfaction and happiness.
Later I’ll tackle some weeds outside and water the garden.
Why limit myself to just the indoors, right?
And then I’ll grab a cold drink, sit on the back deck and smile at everything I’ve accomplished.
That feels good.
Janet Fanaki is a digital creator, writer and host of the RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast. She interviews regular people around the world who are admired for their resilience. They have found a purpose from a challenge and now help others to be resilient too. She lives in Toronto with her adult children.
