The cleaning secret you're missing

It's Friday afternoon and I'm staring at the dishes in my sink, the tumbleweeds of dog hair scattered on the floor, the shoes by the door that didn't quite make it to their designated spot. My first thought? I don't feel like cleaning. I don't feel like taking care of the house.

It sounds harmless enough - who doesn't feel this way sometimes? But this moment is precisely what this week's Torah portion, Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8), warns us about. Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa identified the root of spiritual deterioration in these very words: "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and goodness of heart, from the abundance of everything" (Deuteronomy 28:47).

Look, I know how this sounds. Spiritual deterioration over dirty dishes? Really? Hear me out though.

The portion opens with the ceremony of first fruits - the choicest offerings given with joy and gratitude.

When tending our homes becomes an obligation to fulfill rather than an opportunity to tend divine presence, we've lost the plot entirely. Here's what I'm learning (again, eternally): it's okay not to love the mess, but treating homecare like spiritual practice transforms everything. 

Like those first fruits offered with joy rather than duty, our daily homecare can become bikkurim - the ripest expression of gratitude for the spaces that sustain us. This reframing is essential and so easy to forget: the choice between burden and blessing happens in each moment we reach for the broom. It's about creating conditions for joy to become instinctive.

ROOM OF THE WEEK: THE ENTRANCE

Your entrance is your home's mouth of chi - where all energy, opportunity, and divine presence enters your space. Like the farmer bringing first fruits to the Temple, how you tend this threshold determines whether abundance flows freely or gets blocked at the door.

The entrance manages the transition between outer world and inner sanctuary.

DAILY ENERGY FOCUS

Sunday (Yang/Sun) 

OBSERVE your entrance with fresh eyes. What's the first thing you notice when you walk in? Is it welcoming or overwhelming? Yang energy reveals: Are you entering a sanctuary or just another place where things need to be done?

Monday (Yin/Moon) 

SENSE the receptive qualities of your entrance in soft evening light. Notice the shadows, the quiet corners, the way moonlight touches your threshold. Yin energy asks: Does this space receive you with tenderness when you're tired?

Tuesday (Fire/Joy) 

ADD something that sparks immediate joy when you enter - perhaps a candle, fresh flowers, or simply clearing one small surface until it gleams. Fire's transformative energy asks: What would make coming home feel like a celebration rather than another to-do list?

Wednesday (Water/Flow) 

OBSERVE how energy moves through your entrance. Do you flow in naturally, or do you have to navigate obstacles? Notice where movement feels effortless versus where it feels stuck. The flowing energy of water asks: How can this space support your natural rhythm rather than requiring you to adjust to it?

Thursday (Wood/Growth) 

TEND to something living near your entrance with genuine care - water a plant, arrange fresh herbs, or simply pause to appreciate what's already growing there. Growth requires both attention and space to breathe. Wood's expansion energy asks: What wants to flourish here?

Friday (Metal/Structure) 

ORGANIZE your entrance with loving intention, not grim duty. The structured energy of metal asks: How can creating order here feel like gift-giving rather than burden-bearing?

Saturday (Earth/Grounding) 

REST in your entrance for a few minutes without agenda. Simply breathe and notice what this space offers when you're not trying to fix or improve anything. Earth's grounding energy reminds us: Sometimes the most spiritual act is simply being present.

BAGUA MAP BY ROOM

Before we look at where your entrance falls, consider this: Where in your life are you treating sacred opportunities like obligations? Your daily routines? Your creative practice? Your relationships? And where do you still feel natural excitement and gratitude - your morning coffee ritual, time with loved ones, moments of beauty that catch you off guard?

Once you identify these areas, you can use your entrance (and the corresponding bagua areas) to support both needs - either rekindling joy where it's been lost or protecting the areas where it flows naturally.

Since your entrance can only fall in one of three areas in BTB feng shui, here's how to work with sacred tending vs. obligatory performance based on where your front door aligns:

*In BTB feng shui, we align your front door with the bottom of the tic tac toe board below to determine the location of each gua. This is different from the Compass approach to feng shui which uses directions for alignment. Also note that the rooms and walls of your home won't perfectly align with the bagua map, and some rooms may fall in more than one gua area.

┌─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│   Wealth        │    Fame         │ Relationships   │
│   Corner        │   Corner        │    Corner       │
├─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│   Family        │    Center       │   Children      │
│   Corner        │                 │    Corner       │
├─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│  Knowledge      │    Career       │ Helpful People  │
│   Corner        │   Corner        │    Corner       │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘
          ↑               ↑               ↑
      Front door typically aligns somewhere along this edge

Wisdom, Knowledge & Spirituality Area (Bottom-Left): 

How does your entrance here support learning as gift versus studying as burden? The stable mountain energy of earth responds to earth tones and solid forms. When you enter through this area, you're stepping into the energy of deep knowing. Consider: CLEAR any "shoulds" about spiritual practice, ADD a framed blessing for your home from a tradition that speaks to you - perhaps the Birkat Habayit (Jewish house blessing), a Celtic threshold prayer, or words from your favorite spiritual teacher, TEND to this threshold by keeping a small journal nearby to capture the insights that naturally arise as you transition between worlds - notice what wisdom emerges in that pause between outside and inside, when your mind is neither fully engaged nor completely at rest.

Career & Life Journey Area (Bottom-Center): 

How does your entrance here support purposeful flow versus grinding obligation? Water's flowing energy benefits from dark colors and curved shapes. Entering through the career area means every homecoming is also a return to your life's work. Consider: CLEAR anything that makes your path feel like burden rather than calling, ADD elements that connect purpose with presence - perhaps a small stone from a meaningful place, a photo that reminds you why your work matters, or a plant you tend daily as practice for tending your larger calling, OBSERVE how the simple act of removing your shoes mindfully can become a ritual of transitioning from doing to being, from productivity to presence.

Helpful People & Travel Area (Bottom-Right): 

How does your entrance here invite graceful receiving versus feeling like you have to do everything yourself? Metal's clarity energy works with white colors and precise arrangements. This entrance naturally connects you to support and guidance. Consider: CLEAR beliefs about having to earn help, ADD elements that celebrate assistance already flowing to you - photos of mentors or supporters, or if natural light streams here, a Swarovski crystal that catches and scatters rainbow light as a daily reminder that inspiration arrives in unexpected forms, ORGANIZE this space to welcome guidance by creating a small spot for mail from loved ones, business cards from helpful contacts, or simply pausing each day to notice one form of support you received - the stranger who held the door, the friend who sent an encouraging text, the way sunlight fell perfectly across your path.

Not sure how to read your space according to this map? Click here.

CLOSING INSIGHT

Joy isn't an emotion we manufacture - it's the natural result of recognizing the sacred in what's already here. When I reframe tidying my entrance from "I have to clean" to "I get to tend the place where divine presence enters my home," everything shifts. The same actions, completely different energy.