“When your room is clean and uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state.” Marie Kondo, in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Spirituality meets Spring cleaning when we intentionally use the ritual of cleaning for Passover to reflect on things beyond the physical realm.
Cleaning for Passover is my favorite ritual of Spring. Each year I rediscover how cleaning with a purpose makes a huge difference in my life. Preparing for the first night of Passover, the Seder (in Hebrew it means order) is a journey of putting things in order. The yearly ritual of preparing is much more complicated compared to the Seder ritual, which is relatively simple and it has a script we can follow in the Hagaddah.
Spring cleaning can be a transformative endeavor even before the holiday begins, if we do it right. Scrubbing, removing, discarding, cleaning and rearranging our living spaces has the potential to refocus and give us a new sense of freedom and prepare us for something new. Yet all this physical work can obscure the opportunity to attend to our inner clutter of thoughts and beliefs, unless we use the process as a reminder to include examining the inner landscape along with the physical cleaning.
It is hard to let go, but you’ll be glad you did. Marie Kondo suggests an efficient process by which we can select the things we want to keep. She suggests we use this simple question as a filter criterion, “Does it spark joy?” While Kondo’s book is primarily focused on how to tidy up one’s physical environment, her guidance can be metaphorically superimposed over the concept of clearing out inner clutter as well.
Marie writes, “There are several common patterns when it comes to discarding. One is to discard things when they cease being functional—for example, when something breaks down beyond repair or when part of a set is broken. Another is to discard things that are out of date, such as clothes that are no longer in fashion or things related to an event that has passed. It’s easy to get rid of things when there is an obvious reason for doing so.” Remember Marie’d key question: “Does this item spark joy?”
Let’s begin to clear our environment and attend to inner clearing so we could forge a path to freedom and ease. To remember what we cherish and remove what does not work or is not useful any longer.
Join me to learn how to find more freedom and let go of burdens.
On Saturday, April 20 at 1:30-3:30 pm
at South Gate Community Center
Spiritual preparation and meditation for Passover
May you find paths to more freedom and all you do and spark more joy. I wish you meaningful cleaning and organizing, and a joyous beginning of Spring’s renewal.
Mail: Kol HaNeshama
PO Box 21655
Sarasota, FL 34276
Phone: 941-244-2042
CLICK HERE to Email Us
