Spring Cleaning and Liberation
Spring is a perfect time to free yourself of the clutter in your kitchen and beyond.
I’m sitting here writing at my desk next to the kitchen, painfully aware that I have less than a week left to get ready for Pesach (Passover). I’ve been so busy with the book launch that it sneaked up on me. Wasn’t it just Valentine’s Day?
If you are not Jewish, let me explain what “getting ready for Passover” means to me. Passover commemorates Moses leading the Hebrew slaves’ exodus from Egypt to freedom. The opportunity to leave left little time to prepare; even the bread (matzah) had to be made quickly without the dough rising. That’s why we only eat matzah. But it doesn’t just mean not eating bread, pasta and crackers. We are not allowed to own, see or eat “chametz” (leavened grain and yeast products) during the eight days of the festival.
There is chametz in many packaged foods, so I have to clean out my pantry, refrigerator and freezer and put all the food we can’t have in the garage so the rabbi can “sell it” on paper to someone who is not Jewish and “buy it back” after the holiday. It sounds silly just writing it, but it is tradition so we knock ourselves out every year and go through this ritual.
But wait, there’s more! You need to get rid of every crumb, so it becomes the time for “spring cleaning.” Since my family eats everywhere — in our rooms, in the living room, in our cars, out of our purses and backpacks — I need to go through the whole house and every car, making sure that every trace of food, wrappers and crumbs are gone.
That means emptying everything out from every closet, cabinet, shelf and drawer to clean them; dusting, sweeping and vacuuming; checking pockets; detailing the cars; cleaning the sofa (and carpets, when I had them); cleaning the fridge, freezer, microwave and oven…are you tired yet?
This yearly ritual needs to be done before I can even start cooking for the holiday, when I usually have at least a dozen people over for the Seder dinner.
The good news is, when I’m done, the house is “guest ready” and I can relax for the next week. From slavery to liberation!
Even if you don’t do Passover, spring is a great time to declutter and organize one cabinet, drawer, shelf or closet at a time. While everything is out, look to see if there’s anything you can liberate and pass over to someone else. Then take the opportunity to rearrange things so they make sense or look nicer when you put them back.
You can feel the energy change when you make space. Spring cleaning and organizing renews your spirit. Doing it every year makes it easier for the next time, because it’s become a habit and you have less to go through. Try it this spring - what have you got to lose? Losing stuff means finding peace. And that is true freedom.
The Reviews Are In!
But I can use a lot more.
I receive the best Amazon delivery of my life this week, two dozen copies of my book, “This Mess is Making Me Stress!” I was so excited that I opened the box right there on the porch in front of my mail carrier and gave him a book! It’s one thing to read it on the computer, but the feeling of seeing the pages you wrote in print is quite another.
It’s interesting when you write a book, a whole new world opens up. There is a giant industry out there catering to authors, and a big part of it is how to market your book and get it seen by readers searching for books on the subject. The key to all of it is the number of reviews you have on Amazon.
Here’s where you come in. Even though I have sold dozens of books so far in the three weeks since launch and given away dozens of copies of the Kindle version, I only have five reviews. Sure, they are all five stars, but you need at least 50 reviews for some book promotion sites to feature your book, and for the Amazon algorithm to kick in and show your book higher up in search results.
So if you’ve read my new book “This Mess is Making Me Stress!” would you please take a moment to click here, scroll all the way down and write a review? It doesn’t need to be more than a couple of sentences, and it would really help me out.
And if you haven’t read the book yet, what are you waiting for? It’s available in print ($12.99) and on Kindle ($3.99) The Kindle version will be free on Amazon from April 13-17, 2023 so tell your friends!