Cleaning in our house needs to be done when we see it needs to be done.  Obviously, if I have students booked in or we have weekend guests, then it needs to be done.  Other than that, people have to take us as they find us.  For me, cleaning takes time away from things I want to do.  But when I know I have to do it, I have learnt to regard it as not only cleaning and decluttering my house, but also de-cluttering my mind.

Mother-in-law Mary comes to stay tomorrow for a few days.  When I know someone is coming, I try to see our house from their perspective.  Usually I’m really good at ignoring the dust and cobwebs (spiders are inevitable in an old house!!) but other people see what we don’t see, and it’s as well to remember that if we want them to feel welcome here…. 

So, even though the clocks changed last night, I got up at yesterday’s 8.00 am and got down to it so that I’d have some of the day for doing things I actually want to do.  It was a good plan, and so far, it’s taken 4 hours, tidying up and de-cluttering as I went. 

The thought that sprang to mind as I was sweeping and mopping away was that decluttering makes us feel good, so cleaning can be a positive thing.  I like to do the washing up because that means the kitchen is left clean and tidy – a welcoming space where you can start creating meals, or brew a cuppa, without having to wade through dirty dishes before doing anything….  And de-cluttering a room – tidying things away, cleaning cup rings from tables, neatening things up – helps to free your mind. 

Even though I now feel physically tired, having cleaned and cleared my way through the house has made me feel lighter.  It’s amazing how clutter in our homes weighs on our minds, and bodies.  You feel heavier.  Things that you have to do, or need to do, seem so difficult or large.  I now have to sit down and do last month’s business accounts, and that will probably take most of the afternoon, but somehow I feel able to take it on, knowing that the house is clean, smelling fresh and tidy.  Not for long, I have do doubt!  But for now it’s enough.  Hopefully the rain will clean the car!!