Spring cleaning

Last week, after spending 30 minutes (at a minimum) searching for a book, I decided it was time to reorganize my bookshelves. Most book addicts have a method of organizing their books and I do. In fact, writers are often asked, “how do you organize your books?” Unfortunately, as the volumes accumulate and the bookshelves reach their capacity, things have a way of slipping out of order. Books seem to grow in my home like weeds in a garden.

This is not a small undertaking, and it will probably take weeks. I’m discovering two copies of the same book, paperbacks that are yellow, the pages brittle and coming unglued and titles I had forgotten were in my library.

This bought me to the idea of “spring cleaning.” Where did the term come from, I wondered?

Through research I learned that some people trace the origin to the Iranian Nowruz, the Persian new year, which is celebrated on the first day of spring and a time when Iranians clean their home. The idea of cleaning during March in North America and northern Europe began in the 19th century, prior to the invention of the vacuum cleaner. During March it was possible to open the windows and dust as the furnaces were being turned off and the weather was not so warm to attract insects. Windows and doors could be left open.

Cleaning is therapeutic. Usually in the process of reorganizing, rearranging, and sorting we eliminate clutter. Those books, magazines, clothes, shoes, dishes, souvenirs, bric-a-brac, filling our closets and shelves and no longer used, needed, or meaningful.

It was Marie Kondo who taught us about reorganizing through her best-selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, published in 2014. Martha Stewart has also encouraged us through the years in Martha Stewart Living to keep our house in order by curating our things.

The question is, what do we do with the items we no longer use? In addition to Goodwill, which is also a wonderful source for discovering things, there are church rummage sales and library book sales. The Laconia Public Library has a table of books for sale and will accept your books if they are in good condition and not textbooks. If you donate books not in their collection, they will put them into circulation. The Meredith Public Library traditionally holds a summer book sale. There is a safe house in Laconia that will accept certain donations, things that might help an individual establish a new home. The Congregational Church in Laconia will collect your goods for their rummage sales.

If you haven’t planned a spring-cleaning project in March, I encourage you to think about it. It will make you feel lighter. By making your life more efficient it can reduce stress. Dusting can clear the air and improve your health. Cleaning involves physical exercise, moving you out of your chair and off the couch. With the time you will save not having to search through the closet, move boxes or scan the bookshelves for hours, think of the pleasure you can add into your life for those things you really enjoy. Plan a weekend of spring cleaning and you will be treating yourself. Consider it a spa weekend for the home.

When I wake up in the morning, turn on the kettle to boil water for tea and think about the day, I am grateful for my home and for all the things I have. At this moment we must stop and think about the thousands of families fleeing their homes in Ukraine with nothing except a suitcase with few belongings. Books, art, family treasures left behind. According to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, there are approximately 84 million displaced people in the world.

It is with gratitude that I open my windows, dust my bookshelves, and reorganize my books.

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Elizabeth Howard is the host of the Short Fuse Podcast, found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or through the ArtsFuse. Her career intersects journalism, marketing, and communications. Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited, was published in May 2016. She is the author of A Day with Bonefish Joe, a children’s book, published by David R. Godine. She lives in New York City and has a home in Laconia. You can send her a note at eh@elizabethhoward.com.