By Maddie Rodriguez

Spring Clean Your Life.

There is something truly inspiring about the first real day of spring. Not a day of warmth and sunshine bracketed on either side by snow, the kind of day that only hints at what’s to come. No, the first real day of spring is a day like a declaration: I’m here! it says. It’s like an alarm clock in the body and inspires in many of us a desire for newness and a fresh start. We yearn for spring cleaning in our homes and in our selves. We shed our sweatered winter skins and take stock of what we have built up around us over a long, cold winter, whether that be objects or habits or inaction. It can be tempting to get swept up in enthusiasm and to go all-in on spring cleaning, treating it like a firesale—everything must go! All these things and all these behaviours and all this stillness!

But spring cleaning our lives isn’t about deprivation or scarcity; after all, we’re leaving the harshness of winter behind. Spring cleaning is simply making space for something new. It is allowing time and energy for growth and joy. It’s worth considering how to bring mindfulness to our spring cleaning. How can we improve or reduce behaviours in a way that is both joyful and sustainable? How can we rid ourselves of physical things that do no serve us in a way that would help them to serve someone else?

We often say “spring has sprung,” but if we look closely enough, nature tells a different story. True spring is something a little slower and gentler: a gentle, insistent growth; a steady transformation; a slow reaching toward the light. Let’s make that our model of celebrating spring.