Spring Cleaning is Sustainable (for you)!
Originally rooted in Jewish history and culture, spring cleaning has now made its way into communities around the world. The activity, which once was a springtime ritual to declutter one’s surrounding, has slowly begun to signify a spiritual cleanse in many cultures. As Philip Lark says in his book ‘Declutter’, “The first thing you need to understand is that minimalism isn’t about less, it’s about more. More freedom, more space, more clarity, more room in your life for the things that give you joy.”
Here are our two cents for you to get a deeper understanding of how this ritual of spring cleaning is beneficial for you.
1. It’s soul-food
Living in a clean space, and even the process of cleaning, has immense psychological benefits. Clutter makes it more difficult to focus on a particular task. It affects the part of your mind which is responsible for attention, makes it see the situation as an “unfinished project” and complicates the process for it to complete one task at a time, efficiently. You’ll also realise that if your room is messy when you wake up, your stress levels are much higher than a day when you wake up in a clean space.
Letting go of clothes and items you no longer need is not only liberating, but also increases your productivity. It’ll boost your creativity and ability to concentrate. You need to indulge in a spring clean session just once to fall in love with the minimalist lifestyle – it’ll make you more aware of what you need around you ensuring more mindful purchasing decisions.
2. It keeps you healthier
Clutter directly affects your physical health. From your sleep and weight, to your skin and hair, just about everything is interconnected and dependent on each other. When you sleep in an untidy environment, your sleep is less sound, and the piles of clothes gather dust which cause skin and respiratory problems.
Choosing a minimalist lifestyle on the other hand, makes it easier for you to wind down and get deep, restful sleep which helps flush out toxins. You’ll end up freeing your home of allergens you didn’t know you were housing!
3. It helps you help the environment
If you were to do a headcount of all that you own and then one of all that you need, you’ll probably see a difference in thousands. This difference between what we buy and need is what leads to overconsumption and drainage of the planet’s resources. Being mindful of what you consume can help you to think about the product journey and make smarter purchases.
With the rise of minimalism in places outside of its places birthlands in Japan and Iceland, people are practicing the true meaning of ‘Clean room, clear mind’. It’s time you get started too!
#MAYUReads: A minimalist lifestyle always leave you with space and time to invest in more books, aka the real soul food — we recommend starting with an educating one like ‘The more of less’ by Joshua Pecker!