I recently read a book that discussed the concept of ‘emotional housecleaning’. I confess I was slightly confused at first. Was the author talking about cleaning your house when you’re feeling emotional? (I can definitely relate to that.) Or, did he mean that you should give your emotions an overhaul?

As it turned out, he was referring to the latter. Obviously! Why would any acclaimed psychology author want to discuss the nuances of cleaning one’s house? I’m pretty sure no one ever bought a book entitled, ‘How to clean your house for a happier you’ or needed therapy over their vacuum cleaner’s rebelliousness – although, with the number of vacuum cleaners that have recently broken on me, it’s rather surprising that I haven’t lost it yet.

Of course, while doing some emotional spring cleaning of sorts may be good for your soul, the truth is I quite like the concept of ‘emotional housecleaning’ in a very physical, literal sense.

Now, don’t get me wrong. On any normal day, I don’t enjoy doing chores around the house. They are just an extra thing that has to be done, on my already busy to-do list, when I’d rather be doing something else. Besides, when regular chores role around week after week, it gets easier and easier to find excuses to miss certain tasks and procrastinate a bit – because, hey, if you don’t do it this week, you can always do it next week. Anyway, who’s really going to notice if you fished an item of clothing out of the washing basket and deemed it acceptable enough to wear again to work. I’ve no doubt that just about everyone has done that at some stage, so there’s no point in denying it. The secret is out – and who can blame you?

Cleaning is called a ‘chore’ for a reason. It’s a never-ending, thankless task that must nevertheless be done by someone. Yet, five minutes after you’ve congratulated yourself on your hard work – and basked blissfully in the sparkly cleanliness of everything – it’s inevitable that someone will thoughtlessly tromp mud onto your polished floors or put yet another offensive dish in your perfectly empty sink. Why!?

As if that’s not disheartening enough, I’ve been told by a Martian (who I will refrain from naming) that I clean too much. Really! Is it even possible to do too much cleaning when dust is a force to be reckoned with and washing seems to spawn itself in the washing basket? Not to mention that I generally only do the barest, most essential minimum when it comes to cleaning, because who actually has time for more than that?

That said, when I have an excess of pent-up emotions stewing inside, I find it’s rather therapeutic to show the bath tub who’s boss, scrub the taps to within an inch of their lives and prove to those dishes that no matter how hard they try to triumph over me every single day, I can still beat them back into the cupboard, albeit momentarily. Plus, there’s a tremendous feeling of satisfaction for a job well done – and I’m fairly sure it’s cheaper than paying for therapy.

Think of it this way. No one is going to bug you while you’re cleaning, because they don’t want to offer to help or get dragged into doing chores. As a result, you get some great alone time to process your thoughts and work on your frustrations. Not to mention that scrubbing and rubbing does wonders for your mental and physical constitution and is an excellent alternative to a punching bag. Sure, it’s not glamorous or fun, but it’s more productive than sitting on a couch and you can still have a good chat with yourself. What’s more, if you sniff enough ammonia, you can even work on your visualisation. So, who’s to say ‘emotional housecleaning’ in the literal sense doesn’t have any merit in psychology, especially when doing chores makes us all a little mental at times.

© 2017 Audrey Whyte   All Rights Reserved