Clear

Spring cleaning is a state of mind, at least in my life, and I often get into it in August.  It may be a remnant of all those years of prepping for another school year, for myself or my kids.  As I am sweeping out the literal dust bunnies, here are some other things we might want to consider clearing out:

• Stuff that doesn’t fit.  Clothes, sure, because who really needs a bunch of stuff making us feel bad that it’s too small or trying to make us feel like we might need that larger size again when we fail?  But maybe we can sweep out the sense that our bodies are not amazing just the way they are, carrying on all their millions of chemical reactions, moving us from place to place, holding all our love and joy and laughter.  Maybe we have a few old attitudes lying around that are holding us back—do we really need to think we are bad at all exercise just because we dropped a fly ball back in fourth grade?

• The fourth one.  Maybe we need one family gredunza and a spare and an emergency one, but really, we don’t need more than that.  This goes for sports equipment, cooking utensils, and helpings of peach cobbler.  Also office supplies, which seem to multiply while we are not looking.

• Heavy stuff.  This is where we decide that we really do want to get rid of that extra five (or more) pounds we’ve been schlepping around all this time.  And maybe the sweater from an old flame, that ugly vase that belonged to Great Aunt Matilda, and the photo from the birthday that makes us look like we’re possessed.

• The drugs.  No, not the cold medicine, unless it has expired.  I’m talking about that stash of M&Ms we turn to on bad days, or the obsessive checking of email/Facebook/whatever, or that reality show/cop show/sitcom that suddenly sucks up a week’s worth of evenings.  We might not need them anymore.

It can be scary to clear out space.  We might not know what, if anything, is going to fill the new emptiness.  Maybe we’ll like having an airier environment.  Maybe we’ll discover a new enthusiasm or hobby or skill now that we have more room.  In any case, it will be an adventure.