Today I spent quite a lot of time cleaning. Anyone who knows me also knows I’m a bit hit and miss with housework. But I’ve had quite a bit buzzing round my brain. And cleaning is a great way to think.

I sometimes get caught up in the spaghetti of my mind. Too many thoughts rushing around. Issues vying for attention. Decisions shouting for a yes or no. Other people wanting my attention. New information to process. It can be exhausting! Clearing my mind somehow becomes the most important issue. How to make the cleaning happen? What to let go of first? How to empty my mind? Because until I do the spaghetti will only get more and more tangled. Meaning that I’ll miss something I don’t want to. Or do something I hadn’t intended to. And yes, chaos will follow as my world falls in on my head.

I know that sounds extreme but it’s usually some sort of fear, or even a few, driving me when my mind is cluttered. Cleaning up my act, so to speak, means getting in front of the fear. Chasing it off, putting it behind me, or diving in through the fear at all costs. When I’m in front of the fear I’m taking the lead. Not the fear. So I try to convert this chaos into activity. That’s why I was cleaning. Hot soapy water to wash the dishes in. A cloth and bleach for those harder to remove stains. The duster with the long handle for those hard to get to places. One bin bag for charity stuff. Another for the rubbish. Also cleaning the carpets. The soothing sound of the vacuum cleaner. Watching the bits of fluff disappear into the he nozzle.

I even found myself wondering where all the fluff comes from. It’s like a magical substance. I think I’ve got it all but when I turn around there is more.

With my hands occupied the noise of my thoughts gradually faded into the background. Every so often one thought would walk to the front of my mind, present itself and wait to see what I responded. I found myself flying through a long list of thoughts in a natural and logical way. Rummaging around  seemed to be the order of the day for my intuitive brain. Yet the connections that I made between issues, thoughts, decisions made the next steps really clear. By the time I’d finished cleaning I felt that my brain was sorted out. Lots of have beeen let go. After my cleaning meditation I now have only one or two things to think about. And a nice clean house too!

Day 457 of my blogging challenge.