How clean are you? (First part)

Since we started living through the four seasons, the end of winter is usually eagerly welcomed in our family. Owing, perhaps, to the fact that we are creatures of the tropics, come late March or April—depending on when the weather becomes blessedly less frigid—we happily start to put away layers and layers of winter clothes and come out of our semi-hibernation to enjoy the outdoors and the warm embrace of the sun.

Around this time of the year, I am struck with the urge to give the house a good dusting, clear out all the heaviness in the air and create new space. I guess one can say I am struck with spring-cleaning fever.

But how exactly did the term “spring cleaning” come about?

In Jewish custom, Passover is observed to mark of the exit of the Jews from Egypt. When they were kept as slaves, the Jews were fed unleavened bread, called matzah in Hebrew, which has been since adopted as humble bread to symbolize the difficult history they have triumphed over. Keeping leavened bread, or chametz, during the Passover would have been considered arrogant and a sign of ungratefulness.

To keep themselves from insulting God before the Passover, the Jews give their homes a thorough cleaning to ensure that they do not leave even crumbs of leavened bread lying around. And since Passover is observed in April, many believe this is how the custom of spring cleaning originated. (Source: The History Channel)

Growing up Tsinoy in the Philippines, I also witnessed how my parents would put more importance in cleaning house before the Chinese New Year. I recall the times my mother even hired extra help to assist in the cleaning frenzy. It is generally believed that by sweeping our floors and cleaning our homes, we can drive away bad luck or misfortune that may have accumulated.

Whatever the reason for this sudden urge to clean house, I personally believe that we should not apply this truly wonderful process of putting order in our homes—and ultimately, in our lives—during special occasions only. With our recent experience of seeing our living space reduced from a relatively spacious home in Manila to a 150-square-meter apartment in Europe, editing one’s life becomes an absolute necessity.

In preparing for our move, I donated and sold more than 40 boxes of things around the house. In purging our home of these things, I applied lessons learned from past moves and listened to my gut. Quite recently, I read up on the subject matter of tidying up (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, 2011) and discovered, to my delight, that most of the principles I applied were sound.

To be concluded next month