What is it with the obligatory spring cleaning? After months of darkness and too many hours spent indoors, the last thing I want to do is attack a closet, garage, or basement that needs organization. I don’t want to spend an entire weekend deep cleaning the house. I really don’t want to do these things.
But there is something that happens inside my brain, some kind of chemical reaction or basal urge that is triggered within the first few weeks of spring. Like a bear instinctively emerging from hibernation, I instinctively feel the urge to start clearing and cleaning—even though I really don’t want to do it. I’ll bet, given a choice, the bear would rather sleep in a few extra weeks or months, but Spring, his cruel mistress, snaps her whip—and the bear hops to it.
Those first few sunny days are just glorious. The morning sun shines in through the windows, I’m enjoying a nice caffeine buzz, and I’m just soaking in the warmth and the thought of the long days to come. I’m thinking about walking the dog along the beach, tending to the fruit trees, perhaps a relaxing lunch out on the patio—all the possibilities a spring day has to offer.
And the next thing I know, I’m looking around the house thinking, “What a dump!” But where to begin? There are so many things to clean, organize, put away, throw away, dust, polish, disinfect, paint, rearrange. Snap! Goes the whip. And I hop to it.
But first, I’m heading out for a run. I don’t want to do any spring cleaning. I don’t want to spend hours inside the house … and so it’s possible that this decision to go for a run could be procrastination. But if I truly wanted to procrastinate, I wouldn’t choose running to do so. I’m choosing to go for run because it will do two things. It will put me into a repetitive type of motion that doesn’t require concentration. Repetition and a free mind are the perfect prerequisites to a meditative state. Also, at the right pace, my heart rate will be elevated to about 145 beats per minute. At 145 beats per minute, I’ll be in “zone three.” It’s here I stand to get my best “work” done.
