Spring Cleaning Can be Liberating

Bringing longer days, (a little) more sunshine, and intrepid flower buds, spring is doing a great job of improving people’s moods right now. But it isn’t just the reprieve from gray clouds and frigid temps that is making us happier. Many people are engaging in one form or another of spring cleaning—both literally and metaphorically.

This seasonal shift is associated with inspiring positive changes in our lives. There is a lot of cleaning out closets, clearing out basements, organizing drawers, and getting rid of accumulated piles of paper. For many of us, the goal is not just neatening up, but also removing what is no longer needed or used. Without getting all Marie Kondo about it, I believe that our lightened moods are a result of lightening what we are responsible for. We’re less weighed down by our spaces. Making life just a little more manageable and simpler makes us more joyful.

We already have too much clutter in the place that is most burdensome: our minds. We have overwhelming amounts of information to process, sort through, and try to remember. Far too many choices make our decision-making that much harder. Too much stuff only exacerbates the situation by calling us out on buying clothing we haven’t worn, must-have appliances that sit unused, books we started but couldn’t get into, and the musical instrument we swore we’d finally learn during the Covid-19 quarantine.

Spring cleaning isn’t just straightening, simplifying, or shedding; it can thoroughly liberate us from obligations that no longer serve us well.