A global tradition, spring cleaning can help clear more than just your space.
The deeper meaning behind spring-cleaning traditions
The desire each spring to organise and clean the home can feel innate. It’s the time for looking forward to brighter and warmer days, accompanied by a need to freshen up living spaces and have a good declutter. While the season sees marketing campaigns and products focus on the tidying and organising of the physical, it’s also a good time to pay attention to the personal.
In using this annual period as a moment to take a pause, it’s a chance to check in with yourself and ask the sometimes difficult but necessary questions that come with taking a step back. And when looking to the origins of spring-cleaning outside of western culture, it’s possible to add the complexity and nuance to the process that it deserves.
Shaking the house: Persian practices for a fresh start
Across different cultures, the idea of spring-cleaning has taken form in various media and traditions. One theory of its origins comes from Khaneh Tekani, the practice of cleaning the home before Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Nowruz falls on the first day of spring, and Khaneh Tekani translates as ‘shaking the house’. In this tradition, furniture is repositioned, carpets are washed, and walls are repainted, with homes being upturned to uncover any unwanted and unnecessary clutter.
Although this process is tied to cleaning physical spaces, it also has interesting connotations when considering attitudes to spring and welcoming in a new season. The process of shaking the house is a prompt to realign and reconsider personal space and the challenges of truly organising, as well as to confront any bad habits, in the hope of starting anew. In shaking the house and causing a stir, it’s possible to confront difficult truths. Setting aside time to do this difficult emotional work can help you reassess the value and purpose that your spaces have in your life.
Jewish traditions: honouring heritage through home care
Another theory on the origins of spring-cleaning traces it back to the Jewish tradition of cleaning the house prior to Passover. In remembrance of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt following captivity, there are strict rules against eating or drinking anything leavened or fermented, referred to as “chametz”. As part of this tradition, homes are emptied of any possible chametz still present, which prompts a thorough spring-cleaning of the house.
In this respect, cleaning is a way to connect with ancestral narratives, remembering and honouring the traditions of the past. By aligning spaces with traditions and cultural practices, it can act as a way of asserting ownership and care over a space, allowing its residents to gain a sense of comfort and safety.
Embracing personal change in your living space
Perhaps, in considering springtime traditions, it’s possible to pay homage to personal cultures and ancestral practices. For some, that could be close relationships and objects and images of loved ones. It might even be using your space to pay homage to your religious, spiritual, or cultural identity, allowing the home to be a source of self-expression. Moreover, feeling more comfortable in your personal space can make it easier to feel at ease in your identity within the wider world.
‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ – William Morris
Seasonal shifts: preparing your home for spring’s renewal
Spring-cleaning’s origins are also tied to the changing seasons for obvious, practical reasons. In northern Europe and North America, spring was chosen as the time to clean out the home because of its temperate climate. In 19th-century America, March was often the best time for dusting as it was warm enough to open windows and doors. It also made sense to do it after winter, to get rid of the soot and grime from the coal and wood used to heat the home.
In addition, when considering the environment as the seasons change, it’s worth thinking about how to make the most of it in the home. Whether it’s rearranging your space to let in more natural light or giving much-needed love to those overlooked houseplants, letting nature in can be a big mood-booster after the slower pace of winter.
When exploring different cultural approaches to spring-cleaning it becomes clear that these practices can hold much spiritual and emotional significance. The traditional western view of the process arguably oversimplifies it and fails to make space for the more uncomfortable and difficult connotations that come with reorganising and reassessing personal spaces.
Philosophical approaches to decluttering and tidying
By now, most people know the work of Marie Kondo, a Japanese tidying consultant who became famous for her philosophy that simplifying and organising are the key to a serene environment. Since her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, became an international bestseller, countless amateur organisers have used the KonMari method, asking themselves whether items in their home spark joy. Although it’s a simple question, it drills into a much deeper, more sentimental approach to objects and possessions, creating the space needed to confront emotional ties in the organising process.
In other cultures, cleaning is similarly upheld as a source of philosophical exploration, with the practice being used to confront painful emotions in a thought-out, considerate manner. Döstädning, or death-cleaning in English, is Swedish artist and author Margareta Magnusson’s approach to downsizing and organising. Designed to help older generations organise their possessions in the hope that their children or loved ones won’t feel overburdened after their death, the process takes a hard look at the painful but essential work of organisation. Margareta states that it is ideally a slow, ongoing process and encourages organisers to see it as a lifestyle change, inviting in uncomfortable feelings and giving them their proper time.
Ultimately, cleaning can be a surprisingly confronting and emotional process, but one that can be helpful. When considering the role that certain objects play in your life, it’s wise to do it with a certain level of care and empathy towards yourself and others. In the full swing of spring, try to remember not only spring-cleaning’s origins, but also the ways in which cultural traditions of the past can be beneficial in the modern day.
Creating meaningful connections in your home
Questions to encourage a more philosophical approach to spring cleaning
- Do you feel comfortable in your home and personal space? If not, why? What could you change to make yourself feel more at ease?
- How are you making space for your cultural and personal identity within your home? What could you change to help your space be a source of pride for your personal identity?
- How are you connecting with nature and the environment? What changes could you make to invite nature in?
- How are you making your home and personal space your own? What would your ideal personal space look like?
- How do you feel about the objects in your home? Is there anything that causes frustration or other negative feelings? What could you do to alleviate those feelings?
- What objects do you treasure the most in your home and why?
- What are you doing to care for your home and personal spaces on a regular basis?
WORDS: Hope Talbot
