A Few Words On The Mental Health Value Of Cleaning; Or, Feng Shui Therapy

I’ve been putting a lot of energy into cleaning lately. I mean, I clean a lot around the house. It’s sort of my go-to process for working out stress and anxiety, but also I think it might be a compulsion. I’m not washing my hands obsessively every 10 minutes or so, but there is a part of me that can’t relax if the house is a mess. I can’t just come home on a Friday afternoon, plop down with a pint, and watch TV or listen to records. Not if the house needs cleaned. Dishes need done or put away? Counter tops need wiped down? Bathrooms in disarray? Laundry piled up? Floors need swept? Then I need(must) get through those obligations before the first beer is poured into a glass. There’s something calming about a clean house and candles lit for me. It’s my comfort zone. It’s my zen.

Maybe it’s sad. Most folks zen is hiking in the mountains, or catching the perfect wave while surfing in Hawaii(or wherever people like to surf.) My zen is an Oakmoss Incense candle burning while I’m enjoying an IPA and watching some crappy horror movie. No ‘one with nature’ stuff or meditating overlooking an ocean of infinity. Just a beer and crappy 80s cinema in a clean home.

There’s just something calming and perfect about a clean home. When the house is clean I feel my mind empties of the clutter. It’s not an answer to life’s biggest problems, but for me it’s a start. I’m making room for life’s problems to be seen so I can then take a crack at working them out. A clean home is a metaphor for a clean mind. If I’m surrounded by clutter I’m surrounded by glaring obligation. It’s the physical manifestation of what my brain feels like so often. If I tackle the physical and tactile, I can tackle the metaphysical, existential, and mental much easier and without my brain surging into panic and anxiety.

Over the weekend we rearranged the living room. This was something I would do every few months back in the day. Back when we had furniture that didn’t need to remain in one spot because it was too big to move anywhere else. The last few years we had a sectional couch that was a beast and could only fit in one spot in the living room. In February our oldest took part of it for her apartment, so we bought a single couch and a chair to replace it. It allowed for options in arranging, and this weekend I think we found the perfect setup.

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Speaking of rearranging, as a kid I loved rearranging my room. That’s where this whole “clean” thing started, with my mom. She was a stay-at-home mom and she was always cleaning. I spent a lot of time at home as a kid, usually fighting Bronchitis or some allergy-induced ear infection. So I was inside, and my bedroom was my sanctuary, my Fortress of Solitude. Being at home and sick I’d find things to keep my mind occupied, be it Star Wars action figures, GI Joe, Transformers, books, and then by 10 years old it was music. To keep things fresh and new I’d rearrange my bedroom. Maybe every couple months at one point. My room wasn’t big, but I had a bunk bed, tall dresser, toy box, and a desk. I worked up a sweat but I enjoyed it. It was like a new outlook and perspective every time I’d rearrange. Later on I was also rearranging pull-out posters from Metal Edge, Circus, and Guitar Player magazines; as well as Fangoria and Gorezone. It was like a full-time job, but I was a sucker for mood and Feng Shui even as a 10-year old.

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Maximum Feng Shui.

Okay, back to this weekend…

It led to me rearranging art on the walls, which led to me wanting to tackle the kitchen and dining room floors. I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually scrubbed the kitchen floors. They’d been bugging me for a long time. I clean them often, but with one of those Swiffer Jet things. It shines them up a bit and takes surface dirt off, but after 20 years grime gets in the crevices. It starts looking pretty shoddy, and no Swiffer Jet is going to clean that up.

So yesterday I filled a bucket with warm water and Dawn dish soap, grabbed a handheld scrub brush(I use it for the car mats), and got down on my achy knees and scrubbed. After an hour, hour and a half I’d cleaned the kitchen and dining room floors and I don’t think they’ve been that clean since the day we moved in. Such a feeling of relief and accomplishment. Really, I know it sounds ridiculous but the relief and overall joy to see those floors shine was just what my tired psyche needed.

I’m planning on doing the bathroom floors next. Then clean the walls in the bathrooms.

Guys, I know I sound sort of insane. That’s because I am. But if a little elbow grease on the vinyl flooring and a new perspective with furniture being rearranged can be that mental salve I need to keep my brain from catching fire, by God I’m going to do it.