Sanctus victus - sacred living
I spent a big part of yesterday - as usual - cooking and cleaning and I got to thinking about the elements and rituals again. We cook with fire and wash with water. We breathe air, and open the windows to air rooms. We grow food in the earth, and when we compost we're making life from death, or growth from decay. We don't need to go to a special place to perform rites, or put aside a special time to do them. They happen every day, in the home, all the time without any special effort being required.
But I did more cleaning than usual yesterday because a cousin is due to visit, who I haven't seen for many years. So I was thinking about that, too. Why do we clean more for visitors? I suppose there are two ways of answering that: you could say, we want to give a good first impression if we can; but you could also say that we honour and respect visitors and provide the nicest possible environment for them. Both are probably true.
The thinking helped the cleaning to go faster, but I'd like to cultivate a healthier state of mind so that I can enjoy it more. Not too much though: too much cleaning makes for an uncomfortable house, I think.
But I did more cleaning than usual yesterday because a cousin is due to visit, who I haven't seen for many years. So I was thinking about that, too. Why do we clean more for visitors? I suppose there are two ways of answering that: you could say, we want to give a good first impression if we can; but you could also say that we honour and respect visitors and provide the nicest possible environment for them. Both are probably true.
The thinking helped the cleaning to go faster, but I'd like to cultivate a healthier state of mind so that I can enjoy it more. Not too much though: too much cleaning makes for an uncomfortable house, I think.
posted by Gill at
2:02 PM
11 Comments:
"Why do we clean more for visitors?"
Maybe it's because we don't want them to see the crud that has accumulated since the last lot of visitors? I mean, we don't want to live with it either, but it's easier putting on a show for a day than keeping it up.
This is of course not the case in my pristine home ;-)
LOL! that too, no doubt!
I always race aroud cleaning and tidying for visitors in the hope that they'll think "oh, poor love, she didn't have time to clean" rather than calling pest control
;-)
LOL! Yes I've done a bit of that too, in my time :-)
O I usually do that calening for visitors, though not at the moment, as it's already clean ;-)
I think sometimes I get a bit flustered when there are extra people in the house and it being tidy before they come helps me to relax and not be too overwhelmed.
I've been doing a lot of cleaning lately. Sometimes I really enjoy it and see it as a sacred ritual: hands to work, hearts to god, etc, especailly sweeping! There's something awout sweeping. i try to sweep all the clutter out of my mind at the same time, you know?
But I do get a bit sick of it too: this place is never-ending! You must come and visit us while we're still in this house, Gill.
mA friend of mine just published a book "De Magie van het huishouden - plezierig poetsen en boenen in huis, geest en wereld". Yes, that's Dutch and it means more or less: "The Magic of Housekeeping - happily scrubbing and sweeping house, spirit and world." A wonderful book and I'm proud to say I contributed my own little bit to it.
It's about what Rosie was saying about sweeping and de-cluttering your mind at the same time. Doing the washing up and at the same time rinsing away the frustrations of the day; ironing and at the same time burning memories of negative emotions; wash your windows and giving yourself a new outlook on life; clean your mirror and look at yourself in a new way. It's about always adding a drop of love and self-confidence to your bucket of soap and discovering that everything you do can be an act of magic if you link it to an intention.
In this quick translation/description I can't quite catch the same light tone and sense of humour that she used and which makes the book extra special.
Nearly a century ago Steiner wrote a very small book about the spiritual value and importance of housework, which was, for its time, quite revolutionary.
I am usually not very fond of cleaning and tidying but in times like this - getting ready to move out of our house - I find it an extremely helpful way to get a grip on my life. While sorting stuff and packing boxes I'm sorting my life, evaluate my past actions and consider what I need for the future.
I've - really! - noticed a difference in the way I clean for different visitors. For some (most) of them I make space in my house and my heart, prepare the spare room and put a special little thingy in there, prepare their favourite food...
And then sometimes I find I'm preparing the house - and myself - to make a certain impression on a visitor, or to try and fulfil their expectations.
I suppose there's nothing wrong with that at times, but I'm glad to be aware of that now.
Well, I hate housework, I do what needs doing, promise we'll keep it tidy, next day it's like the house has exploded on the inside, LOL! Got a long day's cleaning and tidying ahead of me - grandparents visiting early on Sunday.
I do it so as not to appear to be quite as much of a slob. I'm not really a slob, and it's not really that bad, but I just have no storage so everything's everywhere, and it's a bit embarrassing for certain types of visitors to see it. Luckily it's a tiny house, so it doesn't take too long ;o)
Rosie, we will :-) And I agree with you about sweeping.
Mieke, that does sound like a wonderful book! I agree that physical actions bring about psychological and spiritual reactions - it's partly how t'ai chi and chi kung works, isn't it?
"It's about always adding a drop of love and self-confidence to your bucket of soap and discovering that everything you do can be an act of magic if you link it to an intention."
That's a great way of phrasing it :-)
Ah I have Steiner's autobiography here in files to read. Every time I hear of a different aspect of him it urges me onto make time to read it.
I hope your house move goes smoothly xx (Are you blogging again? I must take a look..)
Zoe, yes our house isn't huge either and I only really need to focus on 3 rooms and the staircase. The teenagers do their own, in theory, and the other rooms don't seem to get very dirty or messy. As for storage space, when we have it we just hoard more stuff!
Gill, Yes, I've been blogging again for a while... with long intervals and carefully avoiding the subject of househunting and moving. But my most recent post -today's! - is about moving... ((sigh))
when i understand this subject and my relation to it, i will have jmped a huge hurdle...
shukr
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