Cleaning windows is a ritual I attempt at least once a year. With clean windows I can see more clearly how the outside constructs the inside and vice versa. Cleaning windows also gives me a sense of accomplishment and heralds the longer days and heat of summer.
Cleaning windows, like all forms of cleaning house, allows me to care for me and us and our home. Fundamentally cleaning windows is an act of self-care as important for me as writing and reading.
Cleaning windows also reminds me that nothing in life is finished. While the windows will be clean for a few moments, dust, water and minerals will again cling to the windows, fracturing light in fantastic ways. What is once clean becomes dirty.
There is no dirty without clean. Clean windows exist because of dirty windows.
Cleaning windows is an act of futility, yes, but an act of futility that is absolutely necessary to complete. Futility does not absolve me of my responsibilities to act nor am I resolved of my duties to self-care.
All that is here will fade away with time. So I clean the windows.