Spring Cleaning and Sweeping Changes

"When we clean we begin to appreciate how things are there for us, supporting us, encouraging us, and when we appreciate things we appreciate ourselves and one another. So to respect the floor or grounds is to respect ourselves. This is how we develop intimacy and connection. Although everything is one, you will not understand what that means unless you practice it. When you clean, you experience the oneness. You realize everything is helping you."

From "Sweeping Changes: Discovering the Joy of Zen in Everyday Tasks" by Gary Thorp.

This quote was sent by meditator Marsha Hines in response to my sharing memories of my mom back in the 1950's doing what she called her "annual spring cleaning," when lots of clothes and other stuff got given or thrown away, storm windows got replaced by screens, every dish got washed, and every floor got waxed. I remember her doing it all really mindfully, though I don't think the word "mindfully" or "mindfulness" would have had quite the same meaning for my mom as it now has for me.