This morning, while I was putting on my makeup, I had a minor crisis. I couldn’t find several cosmetics I hadn’t used for a while, even after rummaging through endless toiletry bags and drawers (as you can imagine, a beauty editor’s bathroom is full of both). While frantically searching, I was reminded there is truth to the idea that chaos spreads. Once you allow clutter in one corner of your home, it kickstarts a downward spiral—and if these organizational challenges aren’t tackled when they are small, they soon become formidable. Essentially, it’s always worth taking those two minutes to put your items away neatly.
In that spirit, we may all want to take a lesson from the Japanese—and more specifically, a practice known as oosouji, a deep cleaning that is traditionally performed at the end of the year. It’s not unlike the practice of spring cleaning in other cultures, but what distinguishes oosouji is that it represents a philosophy that goes beyond just addressing physical clutter. This annual “big clean” is seen as a moment that marks an opportunity for change, and a ritual that serves to separate one year from the next: by letting go of material things to make room for new beginnings and new goals.
In short, oosouji can be understood as a physical manifestation of the “new year, new you” mindset. Yet while in Japan oosouji is traditionally performed at the end of the year, it can be used whenever you are ready for a fresh start. “Changes of seasons or years inspire us to make positive changes in our lives,” explains psychologist Pilar Guerra. “Their arrival represents a new beginning, motivating us to get rid of the old and refresh our environment. It allows us to free up physical and mental space for new experiences and opportunities.”
And although some people who are comfortable with clutter may not recognize the relationship between physical tidiness and mental clarity, the reality is that, as psychologist Laura Palomares explains, “getting rid of what is useless, resolving not to accumulate things needlessly, and adopting the practice of keeping our possessions neat and orderly generate positive feelings of self-control and discipline while improving our performance at various tasks. Having a space that is clear of clutter and with fewer stimuli creates feelings of calm and concentration. Letting go and getting rid of what we don’t need ends up being liberating as it generates feelings of empowerment and mental clarity.”
All of this can also help us to draw a psychological line between one year and another, or between one phase of our lives from the next. It only strengthens our resolve to adopt new habits if we’re surrounded by the right conditions for those habits to take hold, as James Clear explains in his popular book Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Japanese writers, too, have long discussed the meditative nature of cleaning, seeing it as an opportunity for quiet introspection. “It’s not just about bringing order to the environment around you but also bringing some to your inner world. Our relationship with the world around us reflects our inner self,” the Buddhist monk and author of A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind, Shoukei Matsumoto, explains. “It’s a way to clear the mind of all the dirt that has accumulated over the course of the year.”
Many Japanese thinkers also see the act of cleaning as a chance to calm the mind—something restorative, even. Just as you might listen to soft instrumental music during a seated meditation, Matsumoto explains, it can also be integrated into oosouji. “In Japan, cleaning is not just about removing dirt—it is also linked to cultivating the mind,” he explains. “It is an important part of daily life in schools, and children are involved in cleaning their classrooms from a very young age.”
How to incorporate oosouji into your life
- Start by opening your windows and filling your home with fresh air. In addition to cleaning out the stale air in your home, oosouji is all about reinforcing your connection to nature. The fresh air will increase the emotional impact of the ritual.
- This “big clean” is much more than just tidying up. You’ll want to empty every piece of furniture and drawer, and sort through the contents, discarding clutter and anything you don’t use. Traditionally this would be done by moving from top to bottom, as well as in a clockwise direction, in each room. This also has an emotional significance as you symbolically “close the circle” of each space.
- It is also important to start with the rooms at the back of your home and move from the inside to the outside. The final space you will clean should be your entryway. In addition to helping to keep dust or dirt from spreading into areas that have already been cleaned, this clear progression through your home cements a feeling of emotional and mental order.
