Clean

"Clean" conjures up quite a collection for the senses:

Neat and tidy to the eyes.

Free of germs or dust to the touch.

Fresh and pleasant to the nose.

And to the tongue?

Beware.

Beware of the bitter, because the "taste" of so-called clean-eating is tainted.

In a dangerous irony, "clean eating," which claims to decrease disease,

is one of the most deceptive drivers of disorder.

Because the mind hears "clean" and imposes upon the body.

"Don't eat dirty. Don't be associated with dirty. Don't be dirty."

Soon, orthorexia is ushered in, and body, food and eating become a tri-fold trap.

Nothing is clean enough.

Nothing is good enough.

Nothing is good.

Extremes rain down chaos in an endless cycle.

Balance is muddied.

Rigidity for "clean" drives rivulets:

Reactivity and panic. "What do I do when there isn't clean to be found?"

Recklessness. "There's no clean, so I may as well avoid everything."

Rule-breaking. "There's no clean, so I may as well go for it."

Clean.

As if we even know what that really means in our food and water today.

Advertisements and industries appeal to our emotions and our wallets.

We'll buy the promise of looking better. Feeling better. Being better than we are.

But the purpose of recovery from this disorder is not to feel better.

The purpose of recovery from disorder is to Better. Feel.

To Better. Feel. Our. Emotions.

To Better. Feel. Our. Feelings.

What pain started the path to "cleaner?"

What use or avoidance serves as the antidote to "not good/clean enough?"

What voices (inside us or around us) condemn?

Marie Kondo, queen of the neat and tidy, realized that an organized life is helpful.

But after children, she essentially learned that real life is not about having everything in its place,

but creating a place where family can experience life together.

When food, eating and body consume all the space in the mind, what space is left for life?

Anybody who cleans - the laundry, the table, the car - knows.

The process of real-living, real-life is in the oscillation.

The pendulum.

The threshhold - of coming back to center.

To balance.

To peace.

Any body knows this. The body is no fool.

Homeostasis is the body's averaging of our efforts for our Health.

When we offer Pleasure, it's the Vitamin P to assist in absorption.

When we are Present, it's the aid in digestion.

When we have Portions of variety, it's the balance of diversity.

When we make a Peaceful Plate, we reassure our senses of our best efforts.

It's not the obsession with processed food that is helpful. It's the processing of our emotions which is essential.

Because feelings affect how we see food and body.

How we treat food and body.

How we care for food and body. And life in general.

If we've learned anything in our lives thus far, it's that life is not clean. It's messy.

Learning. Re-learning.

Relationships. Helping ourselves. Helping others.

Growing. Changing.

Showing Up. Or not.

Speaking. Or being quiet.

And there's a helpful story about "clean" for our reference.

Remember Veronica, the woman of history and legend, who stepped out of the crowd?

She stepped out, moved into action, as Jesus stumbled by, under the weight of His cross.

Seeing His tears, she used her veil to clean His eyes.

Noticing His sweat, she used her veil to clean His face.

Aware of His blood, she used her veil to clean His temples.

Joan Chittister elaborates:

Veronica walked out of the crowd of curious onlookers and horrified spectators and bloodthirsty zealots

and performed a work of mercy...And for her trouble, she left, tradition tells us, with an image of the face of Jesus on the very towel she used to give him relief.

The meaning is obvious. Every time we make life physically better for someone else, the face of Jesus becomes clearer and clearer in us. We become more of what we are meant to be. We rise up out of a petty past and become a clearer, cleaner, brighter picture of the face of Jesus ourselves.

-The Way of the Cross: The Path to New Life - Joan Chittister with art by Janet McKenzie

How would we feel better, realizing the truth about "clean?"

You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me. - Jesus in John 15:3

How would we better-feel, recognizing the truth about what makes us “clean?”

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure (clean) thought like a shadow that never leaves.” ― Gautama Buddha

How might we explore a broader range of feelings by entering both the messiness and the beauty of life?

My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your kindness.*

And know this: every day can be a clean start.

This is a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before!* *Quotes from Maya Angelou