A Blair Witch Cleaning
This is canary cleanings. It is a journal of my cleaning journeys.
I’m doing this because (i) I loathe cleaning, (ii) I desperately need to clean, (iii) I enjoy writing, and (iv) I need a reward for cleaning.
So, here’s how this’ll work. I’ll clean a small chunk, break to add an entry, get back to cleaning, and so on. This is my cleaning log for the day and you’re welcome to come along if you’d like! Let’s get this done together!
12:40pm — The Page of Swords
I’m drawing a tarot card every hour. The card’s interpretation is the hour’s theme. This hour the theme is: intellectual curiosity.
I’ve put on the remake of the Blair Witch Project in the background as I clean. As a call to curiosity, I wonder what motivated the remake. In the era of excessive remakes in which we currently reside, what motivates watchers to engage over and over with them? Do we think the remake is going to be better, or reveal some meaning lost to the original film?
My best guess is nostalgia mixed with hope in this way: we go into remakes with fond memories of the original and hope that the remake will somehow reignite past feelings. It’s kind of like returning to your high school sweetheart at middle age: a lot of memories with maybe too much hope.
1:52pm — The Queen of Swords
I don’t have a proper coffee table. Instead, I have a foldable gaming table in my living room. I’m happy to report that the area around it is clean. However, given that the hour’s theme is the Queen of Swords—or logical detachment—I suspect that my judgment may be overly emotional. The table is still disorganized and cluttered in some ways and, were I more scrutinizing, I’d have a few things to complain about its current state.
But we live life in the present, not the subjunctive. So for now I’m happy.
2:45pm — The Hierophant
Disaster! I failed to clean in the past hour. I budgeted my finances instead. That’s ok. At least I wasn’t idling the time away by staring at the television.
But what does the Hierophant—the stand in for tradition—have to do with this? Perhaps it isn’t an institutional tradition I’m drawing upon, but rather my own tradition of being distracted.
I will put a stop to the insidious tradition!
Henceforth, within the next hour, the living room will be clean!
4:21pm — The Ten of Cups, reversed
Discontentment, a theme of the reversed Ten of Cups.
It’s true.
Cleaning has slowed and I grow in need of a nap. But the living room is good enough. Far from perfect, but a forgiving guest wouldn’t have too many qualms.
The kitchen is up next. That is ground zero. A short nap will do me well before adventuring forth into the danger zone.
See you on the other side.
6:32pm — The Magician
The Magician represents the manifestation of my powers, which, in more mundane language, means the proper use of my abilities. And I think I’ve achieved as much.
The recycling is taken out, the garbage collected, and the dishes washed. I am happy. I am fulfilled.
But I am not complete.
There is still a world of cleaning ahead of me. The upstairs, the basement, the restroom! All waiting for my scrubbing prowess.
Soon, my friends, soon…
Thank you for joining me on today’s cleaning journey.