Clean Freak [publisher's letter]
Tracy Patterson
When I read the article “Beat the Blues Naturally,” on page 30 in this month’s edition, I realized that I engage in a number of activities on a regular basis that help me both mentally as well as physically, but one in particular has surprising benefits—and that activity is cleaning!
Nobody could ever accuse me of being a clean freak (as we used to say back in the day), but my husband and I did start a new habit a number of months ago of routinely cleaning our home. Prior to this, our abode would, admittedly, get neglected longer than it should. So, we decided that we were going to clean once a week on Sunday morning. Come rain or shine, it was to be part of our day.
The problem was, how to keep it up over time? The solution was, think about it differently! Now we both say it feels so good to have our home looking, feeling and even smelling better. Another big benefit is that it’s actually a bit of a workout―it gets us moving on a lazy Sunday morning and adds to our overall physical health.
We now have no problem when cleaning day rolls around because we know it will make us feel good physically and mentally, and it turns out to be one of the activities that primes us for the week. Who would have thought that this traditionally mundane activity would result in such a positive outcome!
