EPISODE · Mar 17, 2026 · 16 MIN
Spring Cleaning Culture: Why Mud Season Is Good Enough
from Scenic Route through Midlife — Society, Self & Shifting Gears · host Jennifer Walter
Every spring, you're told to declutter your wardrobe, your goals, your relationships, and your mindset. And if you don't feel the urge? There's a low hum of guilt that says something's wrong with you.This week on The Scenic Route, we're asking: what if that impulse isn't wisdom, and who actually benefits from the story that your whole life needs a seasonal audit?For many women in midlife, spring-cleaning pressure hits differently. You're already navigating a season of your own — one that doesn't come with a tidy checklist. The last thing you need is Instagram telling you to declutter your chakras, too.We trace spring cleaning back to its roots — sacred, communal rituals in traditions around the globe — and follow how it was stripped of that context to become a personal productivity obligation. We look at who the "spring-clean your life" message lands on most heavily (and why that's not a coincidence). And we get into how self-care went from a radical political act — rooted in the work of Audre Lorde — to "buy this candle."Plus: what my body is actually doing in spring and why the in-between, messy, not-yet-blooming feeling might not be a problem to fix.You'll come away with: A reframe on why you feel behind every springThe cultural and gendered history behind domestic "renewal" pressureOne small invitation to try spring subtracting insteadIf this made you see spring cleaning differently, share it with someone who needs permission to not optimise their way through spring.References mentioned:Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light (1988)Inna Michaeli, "Self-Care: An Act of Political Warfare or a Neoliberal Trap?" (2017)Laurie Penny, "Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless," The Baffler (2016)Send me a DMSupport the show_____________________________________________________________________🔮 DAILY DOSE OF WOO The free Scenic Route Affirmation Card Deck is your online invitation to trust your inner voice again. What does your card say? 👉 Pull your daily affirmationCrave something Soft?Sign up for Soft — one gentle email each month to help you ground before everything speeds up again, complete with the meme de jour and a roundup of my favourite things.⭐ LOVE THE SHOW?If this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating and review. It helps other midlife women find their way to the Scenic Route podcast.
What this episode covers
Every spring, you're told to declutter your wardrobe, your goals, your relationships, and your mindset. And if you don't feel the urge? There's a low hum of guilt that says something's wrong with you. This week on The Scenic Route, we're asking: what if that impulse isn't wisdom, and who actually benefits from the story that your whole life needs a seasonal audit? For many women in midlife, spring-cleaning pressure hits differently. You're already navigating a season of your own — one that do...
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Spring Cleaning Culture: Why Mud Season Is Good Enough
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