‘Tis The Season: Tips To Help You Embrace Spring Cleaning, Rage Cleaning, & The Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

Mar 22

With Spring officially here, most of us experience that traditional seasonal urge to climb out of our winter hibernation, clear out the old, and embrace new beginnings.

Spring Cleaning means washing up our spaces and cleaning out the emotional closets.

Now, there’s also Rage Cleaning that, in spite of its moniker, is ultimately a coping mechanism, promising a calming catharsis while it too, tidies up our physical and mental spaces.

And just when your “Mental Merry Maid" control panel is reaching its zenith, there’s the Art of Death Cleaning ~ that urges us to keep only what brings us joy and toss the rest.

If you’re feeling like all these cleaning practices are, ahem, cluttering things up, let’s take a look at what’s going and what kind of cleaning fits your style.

New Beginnings

Let’s start with the one we’re all probably most familiar with: Spring Cleaning.

When I grew up, there was the ritual of taking down the spring and summer clothes that were packed in a cedar trunk, stored in the attic, and change out the winter clothes in the closet.

It was a pretty efficient way to also take stock of what your wardrobe looked like while folding up the items to store, allowing you to make the decision of whether to keep something or, if you hadn’t worn it in eons, to put in a pile to take to the St. Vincent de Paul.

Same for the shoes. Truth be told, we didn’t have soooo many outfits or a vast collection of shoes about which to make a decision. But it was a seasonal cleansing process that worked. And we’d do reverse in autumn.

Then there were the chores of cleaning the house. In Spring, we kids were assigned tasks that were more of a deep dive than the weekly cleaning. So washing the windows, cleaning out drawers in our bedrooms and the kitchen. There were the outside chores too ~ cleaning up after winter and “Nature’s Pruning.”

When I got married and set up our own homesteads, I continued most of these rituals, except for the change of clothes to the attic. Most clothes are all-season now, so no more putting the sweaters in the trunk with moth balls or cedar.

A walk-in closet helps too. 😉 But I do switch out the shoes.
And we do the window washing and, of course, the work in the gardens. It’s no surprise that we horticulturists often refer to this time as the “silly season” because there’s just so much darn work to do in spring.

One of Bill’s favorite, almost spiritual spring rituals, is to wash the car ~ inside and out.

The practice of spring cleaning is a custom that's rooted in cultural tradition. “It dates back to the days when homes were heated by wood and lit by lanterns that left layers of soot on every surface. When spring arrived, it was time to open up the windows and doors, pull out the rugs and bedding to beat away the dust, and scrub the floors and windows until they shined.”

Overall, the ancient traditions of thoroughly cleaning the home to usher in the new, the fresh, makes us feel good, reduces tension and is its own kind of a mental boost. Our mood is lightened when our countertops are sparkling and we’ve organized our closets and drawers. This is especially true when, in a world that seems to spin ever more chaotic, making us fearful and anxious, we can render our homestead orderly in a way that we want things to be, creating a safe, stress-free haven.

What Is Rage Cleaning?

Rage cleaning, also known as “Angry Cleaning,” is a way to channel pent-up anger or frustration into a cleaning spree, using physical activity to release those emotions and achieve a sense of control and accomplishment.

It’s a response to something that’s triggered your emotions and the cleaning is a physical emotional way to work through that emotional pain.

It’s not a seasonal or traditional activity. Regrettably, anger like this can happen, well, whenever.

Rage Cleaning is a productive way to release negative emotions, such as anger, frustration, or stress. The sheer physical exertion of cleaning, combined with the satisfaction of a tidy space, can help you ameliorate or alleviate the angry, bad feelings. Consequently, when you’re finished, you can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

And that triumph can, in turn, offer an emotional release, a sense of control ~ which is especially key when, whatever pushed your buttons, left you feeling that things were so overwhelming, so out of control.

Of course any cleaning is physical work ~ all that washing, vacuuming, scouring, and dusting is creating a way of energizing you and consequently, reducing stress. Whatever made you so enraged can almost dissipate as you channel that rage ~ take out your inner frustration; in essence, “rubbing out” the scum!

When Rage Cleaning, many folks claim to also turn on the music full blast. While I wasn’t rage cleaning way back when in my first Gotham apartment, my SOP was to put “Earth, Wind, & Fire” on the turntable, and in a kind of Groove Cleaning, keep to the pulsing beat while vacuuming. (Maybe that’s another form of cleaning?!)

It goes without saying that the result of a cleaner home, apartment, office, or car can lead to a sense of calm and well-being.

Generally speaking, any cleaning can be a kind of meditative exercise, so that while you're doing the cleaning, you’re thinking about what you don’t want to be thinking about 🤔 but at the same time, you’re processing your emotions. In a positive way. And that leads to a healthier mental state.

The Mayo Clinic recommends exercise and movement for dealing with anger; thus Rage Cleaning can even be viewed as an anger management coping strategy.

Many folks let off steam and swear by “Spirited Scrubbing” or “Vigorous Vacuuming” or “Mattress Flipping” (it’s actually recommended that you flip your mattress three or four times annually, FYI, angry or not.)

What is Death Cleaning?

Döstädning, or Swedish Death Cleaning, has been recognized in the States more so over the last few years due to the popularity of the Peacock TV Show: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning that stars Amy Poehler as the producer and narrator.

As Amy notes ~ “We’re all going to die. So clean up your crap so that others don’t have to do it when you’re gone.” 😆

Death Cleaning's core premise is that we all need to declutter our homes ~ and I’ll add, our offices and cars ~ of unneeded personal belongings in the event of our death, so that loved ones are spared the burden of cleaning up our sh_t when we depart this life.

The idea is to remove the burden of decluttering for your loved ones to handle after you've passed away, so you're left only with the essentials and those items that have the most meaning. In the here and now. And while it was initially intended for those later in life, folks found it to be relevant at any age when clutter has started to accumulate.

This concept was part of my Death Doula training. When The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning first aired, my fellow classmates expessed a great sense of an aha moment ~ a shared vision and a hope that folks would be entertained yet educated about this important topic.

While not washing or cleaning per se as Spring Cleaning or Rage Cleaning, there is that same result that our spaces will be organized and in order. And that brings that same sense of peace and mental health.

Like a Nordic Marie Kondo, Death Cleaning’s approach is to keep only those things that bring us joy. Toss all the other stuff! Keep only those things that add value to your life because of its beauty, its meaning, its utility.

A key question when practicing the Art of Death Cleaning is: What possessions truly add value to my life?

Swedish Death Cleaning is as productive as the Swedes themselves, who are pros as championing work/life balance. The Art of Death Cleaning is practiced with an efficient, methodical approach. I understand that there is also Irish Death Cleaning ~ and that employs the same method for organizing and simplifying your life.

No matter what flag your de-cluttering is flying, the basic process is determining what you’ll keep, what you'll pass on, and what you’ll donate.

You visit each room and practice the zen of deconstructing the cleaning using: focused mindfulness and the dedication to organize your life by letting go of unnecessary items.

Start off methodically with a plan. Go room by room.

Knicknacks, Souvenirs, old pillows or throws… Hanging on to the faux flowers from a bridal shower or a frat party nostalgia item? The extra cutlery or serving dishes or tablecloths? Or those outfits with the padded shoulders? The tools?

As they sing in Frozen: “Let it go.” Let it all go.

Your goal is to clear out the physical clutter.

Clear your office and home files, too ~ paper and digital. This is a key part of a Death Doula’s service ~ a digital footprint is too-often neglected or too difficult to put to rest so a Doula can respectfully manage removing even social media profiles. (Think ~ Did you ever receive a Facebook birthday notice only to discover that the person had died?)

You should also pursue a streamlined financial and budget operating plan.

There are so many things that we Really. Just. Don’t. Need.

If you’ve ever had to clean out a home or apartment after a loved one has died, you know the pain of finding someone or some organization to take all the stuff… You want to be respectful but you also need to clean it all away.

So opt to unburden your heirs.

Lean in to a peaceful, simpler life by getting rid of the crap you don’t really want or need and make the place for what you truly value.

The benefits are that when you declutter, you not only find peace of mind for what you value; but this newfound space allows you to better enjoy time with those you love, or your artful pursuits and ~ when you do pass on ~ you will have lightened the physical and emotional burden on your family and/or friends to dispose of your life’s detritus.