Spring Cleaning
It's for your home and your attitude.
Spring cleaning has a lot of purposes. For one, it may be the first time your house has seen fresh air in months. It’s time to dust everything off and give a little oxygen to your closed-off rooms. In the Midwest, it’s time to hide your coats and dust off your shorts. In Southern California, it’s different plants but not your summer wetsuit yet. No matter where you are, the Chaco tan gets more defined and most of us bask in the sunshine.
Those are the literal interpretations of spring cleaning. Quite frankly, I clean better when someone is coming over; though, I will say, I clean my floors more often because the windows are open. Spring cleaning, I would argue, is more than literally scrubbing your home. I do have gratitude for February sunshine, but in reality, I get out a lot more when spring comes. Because of that, spring is always exciting.
I like being outside. Give me a pair of snow pants and a hat, and I’ll build a snowman. Give me a swimsuit, and I’m in the water. The beautiful thing about spring is that you have days when you can be inside with a cup of coffee and a good book while it rains. You can be in a rain jacket and shorts and looking for frogs while it rains. You can be sweating in a tank top or cozied up in a sweatshirt, both times in the sun. Especially in the Midwest, you never know what you’ll get between March and June, but you can almost always be outside with the right gear.
In my spring cleaning, I am birdwatching and frog-searching. I am hanging art on my apartment walls. I am doing four loads of laundry at once to get it all done as fast as possible. I am making the bed every morning. I am cooking with the doors and windows open in the rain. I am sneezing. I am regulating the humidity in my apartment with a mix of fresh air and air conditioning. I am listening to my creative brain between my anxiety brain and my tired brain and my at-peace brain. I am watching Sex and the City and reading Emily Henry and listening to Haim and watching unhinged Nicholas Cage movies. This spring, I am cleaning my apartment as I unpack boxes and move clothes from packing cubes to drawers. My spring cleaning is committing to this apartment, drilling holes in the walls and making bread.
This is my first spring in Ohio, my first spring in this apartment, my first spring as this person. But then again, isn’t every spring? You’ll find tons of listicles about how to spring clean, what to spring clean, when to spring clean. I argue we shouldn’t follow somebody else’s list. We should make our own lists, our own spring firsts and things to clean and things to do. What makes this spring special to you this year? This year, I’m going camping. I’m looking for frogs and turtles and birds. I’m writing. I’m reading. I’m eating Klondike bars on my fire-escape-like balcony. I have a new swimsuit ready for Lake Erie.
Spring cleaning isn’t really about making things spotless. It’s about preparing for the next part of the year. For some of us, that means preparing to stay inside with the air conditioning and puzzles. For many of us, it’s about getting away from our desks simply because our toes won’t freeze if we do so. These are not moments scrubbed free of dirt. In fact, most have extra dirt. These are not polished moments. There is a lot of melted chocolate ice cream and splinters in the summer. There are ants in the watermelon and muddy shoes. Spring cleaning is preparing to enjoy the dirt as it comes.
Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.
Reading: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
So far so good, but what Emily Henry book isn’t?
Eating: Matilda’s Chocolate Cake
The cake from this recipe is absolutely amazing every time I make it. The boiled water in the batter is what I think makes it so soft. The frosting isn’t my favorite, but it isn’t bad.
Playing: “Florida!!!” (feat. Florence + The Machine) by Taylor Swift
I recently remembered that you’re allowed to return to music you haven’t listened to in a while.
Obsessing: How to find frogs!
If you have tips, please let me know! I can hear them. I know where and when to find them, but I want to get closer and see more.
Recommending: Write lists for yourself. Even if you’ve forgotten the lists, it’s nice to stumble upon them and remember what you were thinking of reading or doing.
Treating: Chocolate cake for breakfast. My mom says it’s okay.
That’s all she wrote…
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I love the line "my first spring as this person" because you're right that that's always true. I've been thinking lately about the impermanence of everything and how everything (including us) is always changing. That used to be an unsettling thought for me but now I find it kind of freeing.