Open Post and Clean Toilet Challenge Winter Solstice Update

[kimberlysteele]

It's time to check in with the Clean Toilet Challenge!  As a quick recap, the Clean Toilet Challenge is an informal, ongoing experiment.  By cleaning our toilets everyday, we take part in an ancient belief that staying humble and cleaning your own toilet everyday brings money luck and good fortune.

I think I can safely say my own bottom line has improved since June 2023.  I still have some credit card debt -- nothing extreme, but there have been expenses because I lost a family member in October.  In spite of some setbacks, I am as busy as I was in 2016-9 when I still had a commercial location and was actually putting away money with zero debt for one of the first times in my adult life.  Then the mismanagement of corona devastated my business and threw me from modest savings back into debt.   I am not at the point where I have any savings, but I am slowly starting to pay my credit cards off.  

In my own case, I see my clean toilet helping me to continue coming up with alternate streams of income.  One big win this year was the launch of my Sheet Music By Kimberly Etsy store in late October 2023, which has already brought in $150 worth of revenue with less than 20 pieces of music for sale.  I am looking forward to adding more pieces to the store over my winter break.

As I mentioned in the Fall Update, I have been able to relax a bit and because of generous donations to my Bandcamp and BuyMeACoffee sites, I now regularly enjoy a matcha latte or mint hot chocolate on the town at least once a week, and I often get a sandwich at Panera, NafNaf, or McAlisters without sweating it like I used to.  

Have you noticed any improvements or strokes of luck that could be owed to a clean and appreciative toilet?  Let me know in comments.

Happy Alban Arthuan/Winter Solstice!

Comments

[kimberlysteele]

Just don't do this. This is... strange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKkclrnnH68

[kimberlysteele]

Just kidding. I actually love this.

[jpc2]

That was a fun one...

I started the cleaning routine before the 'official' start when you mentioned it on Ecosopiha. I can't say I've seen any noticeable change in the financial situation. I did find a $5 bill on a walk back in July. However, the bathroom is cleaner now. I'll continue.

John - Coop Janitor

[kimberlysteele]

I'm so glad someone else is still doing it -- exactly, clean bathroom, amirite? Every day when I do it, it does seem like a very Japanese thing to do. It also reminds me of the way my late father was. He had a strong stomach for dirty/tedious jobs and he was extremely diligent about routines while somehow remaining graceful and never, ever "holier than thou" or grim about it.

[(Anonymous)]

While great wealth has not rained into my lap, I did get a call from my insurance agency several months ago letting me know they could adjust my car insurance from about $1000 to $600 a year by switching to a different provider (no not Geico!). I think the real benefit though is the self-discipline the practice encourages. Not monetary wealth but wealth of a different kind.

JLfromNH

[kimberlysteele]

How cool! Thank you. I agree with you -- the kind of wealth that seems to come from the practice is not monetary. I was about to go into Dollar Tree about a week ago and the field next to it and I had a brief conversation: me telling it how lovely it was and it thanking me for noticing, and then I picked up most of the trash that had accumulated along the low fence. It looked much better afterward. I hope that some other person will see it, especially a child, and be able to cut through the astral crap to talk to the field as I did. It's easier to talk to spaces when there isn't a neglected, trashy look to them.

[jpc_w]

Still at it.
It's become a part of my morning, a way of getting a handle on organizing my time.

I've also started taking my career field more seriously.

[kimberlysteele]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for the follow-up.

Terlets update

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve been cleaning my toilet daily as part of my morning routine. I wake up, pee, clean the toilet, brush my teeth, clean the sink, make my bed, and so on before I go downstairs.

Knowing I have a clean toilet and a made bed helps me feel virtuous that I’ve got the basics done. All other domestic chores are a bonus!

My husband cleans the downstairs toilet and I keep the composting toilet in my studio clean.

I don’t experience any changes as far as my finances go, mostly I just get to experience a feeling of virtue. Plus I have a daily visceral reminder that most tasks are accomplished through steady, small acts that add up. I count that as an awareness of creating abundance through perseveration.

Annette

Re: Terlets update

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you! "Plus I have a daily visceral reminder that most tasks are accomplished through steady, small acts that add up." YES. This is exactly why I do it -- it's also the same spirit I invoke when I do my short exercise routine every day of jumping jacks, squats, and push-ups.

clean toilet challenge

[(Anonymous)]

Kimberly - I took up the challenge shortly after you announced it, but didn't formally sign-up as I wanted to keep at it through the winter solstice before saying anything. Thank you for this challenge - I have certainly benefitted: being more grateful, the toilet and bathroom sink look noticeably cleaner, the sense of accomplishing even one small task in a day, joy in doing a humble, useful task, etc. No extra money coming in, but that seems beside the point (I mean, I could have used extra money to help pay off bills, but the money aspect just never crossed my mind). As far as being more grateful is concerned, reflections have arisen at many levels: the Divine (e.g., "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."), the people (sewage treatment plant workers, plumbers, factory workers, etc.), the Earth (providing all the resources!), etc. Again, thank you very much - great idea! Best wishes for many blessings, good health, and happiness! - PatriciaT

Re: clean toilet challenge

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you so much! It does seem more like a connection to the Divine and to gratitude. That said, I am wondering if anyone has noticed improvements in their health. I think my health has improved since the Summer Solstice, but it's multi-factored as to the reasons.

[methylethyl]

Well, I'm lousy at consistency, haven't done it every day, and have no intent in there toward any toilet deity or any remuneration. I really just need to up my housekeeping game. And I *have* been cleaning it more often.

FWIW, I checked my account a few weeks ago, and found a mysterious $300 deposit. It appears to be a tax return, from the state we lived in over a year ago. That's a head-scratcher. As far as I know, they did not owe us any money. I also received a check from our old (again, we don't live there anymore) electric co-op for $6 and change. The explanation letter made sense, and seems legit.

On the balance, I'd guess if there's any mystical connection between my recent actions, and the appearance of unexpected funds, it's probably not the toilet thing, which I've been less than regular about. What I have also changed recently, and been extremely conscientious about, is that I've gone back to recording every money transaction, in or out, in a little notebook, stapling receipts to each page, and tallying everything up every ten days, and again at the end of each month. So: being super extra conscientious about our budget and our spending, in order to be more responsible with our income. It feels like I've been heard ;)

[kimberlysteele]

My father was very, very organized. He worked pretty much until the day he died (he was a salesman with clients that he served at a medium-sized printing company) and he always knew where his money was, even though he was generous to a fault. He proved you can be generous to a fault and also quite organized and aware of where the money is going. He was also extremely responsible. If you've taken on his brand of organization, I can attest that it always came with the blessing of "necessary wealth" as is mentioned many times in the Orphic hymns. Meaning you might not have every single perk, but you'll always have just enough to make it because of the non-monetary energy and gifts you give. All of those gifts return over time by the power of seven, according to one of the entities I have talked to whom I believe is/was divine.

[methylethyl]

Dunno about x7, but yes, enough. I've combed through the numbers very carefully, and trimmed nearly everything I could still trim. It wasn't enough to get us back inside our monthly income (we're not in debt thank God, but excavating our savings is not good!). But it is really quite funny how close the windfall amounts are to the shortfall in my budget numbers.

[kimberlysteele]

Well, from what little I understood, thinking of the x7 sheerly in Meatworld numbers is a mistake. Think of it in terms of the subtle planes: it comes back to you in the form of mental clarity, good will, benevolence, sweetness, and generosity returned to you over time, but since time and Meatworld itself is an illusion, it is very difficult for us humans to perceive with our tiny brains.

[methylethyl]

:)

[(Anonymous)]

I joined in with the clean toilet challenge a couple weeks after your original post. I can’t say that I’ve seen any noticeable amount of increase in income (the new year will bring a pay raise, but that’s contractual and would have happened anyway) but I have had times where money has come to me through discounts and special sales that seem to pop up right when I need a certain item. Sometimes I would save money through a totally unexpected way. The best example of this concerns my furnace. When I turned it on this fall, sometimes it would make a rattling sound for 10-15 seconds. It still ran normally and heated the house, but that noise could happen on and off. Then the day before Thanksgiving it started rattling for several minutes, sometimes going into a higher pitched screeching sound. Now I think I’m in trouble, although it was still heating OK. When I got back in town after Thanksgiving, it was back to just a few seconds of noise, but I called the heating service anyway. Of course, once I set the appointment, the furnace ran normally and quietly so that they heard nothing. The repairman cleaned and inspected the furnace and said everything looked good and was ready for the season. A few days later, the rattling started again. It started with just a few seconds of noise, but then there were times when it would go longer again and do the screeching. So I called them again, explaining the sounds and that this happens on and off. They tell me to try and record the sounds in case the repairman doesn’t hear anything. As soon as the new appointment was made the furnace stopped making noise and ran quietly. (This is how I know the Gods have a sense of humor!) I was worried I couldn’t get this fixed if they couldn’t hear the sound, but then I thought of YouTube. After a search, I found a vid of a furnace that made the same sound, so I showed that to the repairman and he was able to finally fix the furnace. When I pulled my checkbook out, he waved it away and said I didn’t owe him anything and that the problem should have been discovered and fixed the first time they came out.

I wonder though…maybe we only see the little ways we save money or have a surprise increase. Perhaps if we didn’t participate in this challenge, worse things would have happened that would have had us scrambling to pay something off. Maybe my furnace would have quit and had to be replaced (ouch, says my checkbook). Are we expecting huge changes in our income but feel like we’re only getting a piddly amount; like people who play the lottery for millions but get upset if they only win $20? Not saying commenters here are upset; I agree with the sentiments expressed about feeling good over cleaning and having enough to keep finances in balance. And I think that’s what is important; not gaining huge amounts of moolah, but making enough to cover our needs, a few extras, and maintain a fairly comfortable existence. The best ways to meet these goals are to be satisfied with little and ignore the consumerist American lifestyle. And then, clean your toilet.

Oh, and if your furnace makes this sound, you need new bushings.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OLcxRunIhys

Joy Marie

[kimberlysteele]

My Mom's furnace recently broke down! The motor died. Luckily it was under warrantee. Thanks for the link -- there is a world of catch up for me to do in the realms of home repair "awareness". My Dad took care of everything and without him, it's scary.

Yes, I agree, anyone looking to hit the equivalent of a Lotto by cleaning the toilet every day is most likely in for a disappointment. I know I sound like a fruitcake (maybe I'm past the age of being able to care about such things?) but I talk to the toilet and the bathroom. The toilet appreciates my care for it and so does the sink and tub. It's certainly not the only item in the house I talk to: I have conversations with inanimate objects all the time. Homemaking is a collection of dialogues that are about recognizing one small aspect of the spirit of place.

Clean toilet

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Kimberly
I'm here to report that I have been doing the daily cleaning every day since you'd announced it first on JMG's journal. If I skip a day ( maybe twice so far) I clean another toilet in the house in addition.
I was wondering if there's a prayer that you know of? Also please remind me of the deity's name.
A comment above makes sense to me too " small steps in perseverance" and illustrates that time in a day can expand by incorporating small tasks that over time hopefully become big accomplishments. Ideally I'd like to add a new, productive habit every two weeks. Realistically that time frame hasn't succeeded but at least I am learning to break repetitive tasks into small time chunks and do them over and over, which makes them much less bothersome.
Financially I seem to not slide into negativity and keep somewhat steady at least, which I'm extremely grateful for. I am stressed about finances yet have been able to eat well, buy gifts for the kids and sometimes some clothes for myself and bunch of Christmas presents for us. Also I have been reading about minimalism and embracing that mindset in a truthful way, instead of a shameful necessity.
So thank you for this challenge and I will continue. Have a blessed 2024 with increasing financial health and opportunities!
A

Re: Clean toilet

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you for the report & follow up!

I made up this prayer for the toilet: "Toilet, toilet handling waste, thank you for your saving grace."

There's a Japanese/Buddhist deity of the toilet called Ususama myoo 烏芻渋摩 as well as an ancient Roman version of Venus called Venus Cloacina.

I loved that "small steps in perseverance" as well! Sums it up for me. I have noticed the main transformation in myself lately has been a detachment from worry about money. I think this came out of several things:

1. Lots of discursive meditation on different outcomes: what do I do if I become poorer, richer, or stay the same? It's a big driver of fear in our civilization to be driven into poverty, but when I thought about it very deeply, there are far worse things than dying poor. The main issue with dying poor is you will be miserable if you wish you were rich or a facsimile thereof the entire time.

2. Talking to my house, objects, and other spirits of place (manitous). There is real power in communication with the objects you use and the places where you dwell. I guess it could be considered psychism to chat with one's surroundings but weirdly it starts becoming a matter of courtesy. Everyone, including inanimate objects and spaces, likes to be acknowledged, recognized, spoken with, and appreciated. Almost all religions are in a state where they drive their followers away from recognizing the spirits of place and that is a real shame.

3. The concept of Meatworld as an illusion. Meatworld seems to be a facsimile, a game, a mock-up, a test, and a fake-out -- and though it can be pleasant, it is often cruel and horrible. If "all the world is a stage", what does that mean where material wealth is concerned? To me, it seems that material wealth is a glamour and a trick. If you want to repeatedly lose whatever terrible "game" this is, chase material wealth and be crappy to other souls. I myself am not at the stage of my development where I can go full Jesus or Buddha and renounce all materialism and be good to every soul I enounter, however, I think I may be beginning to understand why they did that.

Still at it

[(Anonymous)]

I am still at it on the upstairs toilet. I do the downstaris one too, but not as often. I am the only person here.

Some of the things that come up for me money wise are not directly money, but works out as money. For example, our local buy nothing group may turn up what I need. We had extra people coming to the christmas gathering, and I had a fun game lined up in lei of gifts with handmade mugs I had bought used last spring, but now I needed more. One of our buy nothing members gifted me 4 more mugs to add to the collection for the christmas game. I was gifted some more shingles ( i spent last month shingling 200 sq ft of goat shelter, a fire rebuild here) My health cooperated and I actually hammered all those shingles, ok, not many at a time, but no pain overall and I was so happy doing it. My overall cost for the roof was in the couple hundred, not a thousand to hire someone with all new. My youngest dd came down with a friend, which is far for her now, and they helped for 2 days putting up 2 barn doors. And, what was realy crazy was the doors I picked up from someone giving them away on craigs list or somewhere, someone else prior to that had hardware for that, but I had thought I was only going to have a door on one side. Well, I spent time going thru facebooks messages from a year ago, wrote him, and said, I am sure that you no longer have the second rail and rollers, given that this was a year ago, but just checking. They were still in his yard, he was home, and a day before the young folks arrived, I picked up that hardware, they installed it in the rain even. I am blessed.

The free earthquake bracing for my foundation happened, and the county inspector came out and did not look or give grief on anything else on the property. My first time pulling a building permit, the program required one.

I am working on my own install of the back up batteries, and so far I am working thru it. slow and steady.

I received a phone call that I made it thru the first hurdle for a program out here in our fire prone area to help with mitigation. I qualify, now we will see when they set up the appointment what they can do for this house. I am taking deep breathes and letting it happen, as of course, this would also require a county permit and they would likely have to actually go around the whole property.

The only direct check I have received was $6, from my insurance company and I have no idea why. But, everything else is like money as it is taking off the financial stressors and things are improving and getting done out here. Today when I went to town for my allergy shot, I was able to drop by 3 places, one for a paint by number set, one for a mystery murder group game, and a bit of fabric scraps for crafting. Yes, others drop by my place and get to take away things I no lionger need. Anyway, looks like a few interesting things to do during storms.

I do not yet have actual budgetary room for extras or treats or even the way I used to eat before the fire, but I am getting along fine and as things get fixed, the closer I get to potentially previous levels.

I have been making sure to be thankful of the food falling off trees here. They are happier when I go out and thankfully gather and make use of it, even though the wildlife is also thankful and gets more than the wildlife can eat of apples and persimmons. I made 12 quarts of apple pie fillings, 2 half gallons of dried apple slices, an awful lot of applesauce, and gave away 4 apple pie fillings and a lot of apples. The latest tree is just ripe, the christmas apples, Lady William, so I took 5 lbs on the train for christmas, my housesitter picked some, and I need to get out and see about now getting the rest for fresh for the next month. I made about 5 quarts of dried persimmon slices, have 50 Hoshigaki drying ones hanging and drying, froze some pulp, gave away some and the birds have been taking their fill. So I have gifted an abundance of preserved jams, fillings, dried persimmons and have enough fruit here to not need to buy fruit until June.

Re: Still at it

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you for this! It sounds very much like you are being blessed to the power of seven and with the "necessary wealth" mentioned several times in the Orphic Hymns. And the amount of etheric labor you do is staggering. My hat is off to you. I can barely manage a suburban house and yard. The food may fall off the trees (depends on the season, of course) but it often rots away before I can do anything about it due to my ineptitude and distraction.

Re: Still at it

[(Anonymous)]

oh, the main fruit trees, where the deer cant go, there is still plenty of fruit rotting on the ground of apples. There was just so much apples. And I am only one person, so I just do what I can, at least this year I saved some of it. This was an absolutely amazing apple year, and my main tree is much larger than people in town have. The high up persimmons that I cant realy reach will get eaten eventually by birds, who although they do eat of the apples, they will not eat all the apples on the ground, not even the quail, (and I dont want turkeys, deer and coyotes in the main garden area - they would not waste the apples, but I would get no food and no cat), realy like a fully ripe persimmon. I harvested the teeniest amount of black berries this year, and I realy like blackberries ! Sometimes life happens and all we can do is start with today. Somehow I became more food focused again end of august or beg sept or so

forgot to identify

[(Anonymous)]

that last comment was Atmospheric River, from out here in the California coastal range

Re: forgot to identify

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you!

TSW, big time!!!

[homeopathic_meditations]

I did not sign up officially, but have been cleaning my toilet routinely since shortly after your first post at the Ecosophia site. I will not say "daily" because there were some plumbing issues that made using it difficult, and while those lasted I used the affected toilet as little as possible, therefore not cleaning when it was not dirty/used. But overall, I started with a very deep clean and later kept it in good order with regular household products.

I am extremely grateful to Ususama myoo and to yourself; my finances have turned drastically for the better since last August, and although it did involve a painful career reorientation, it snowballed in many other areas of my life as well. I have noticed, the most thorough I am with toilet cleaning the more other things or relationships in need of attention seem to enter my focus and awareness. This includes meeting again long lost friends that I had not seen in years! (no real rupture there, just each went their own way and lost contact).

All in all, I plan to keep cleaning my toilet into the foreseeable future, at least as well as I have during this past Autumn.

Re: TSW, big time!!!

[kimberlysteele]

Wild! Thank you so much for the update. I am noticing my finances have turned around as well and it only seems to be getting better despite having more expenses now. When I clean my toilet, I visualize my bank account having enough to cover a modest yet decent donation to my favorite charity, which is a local homeless shelter. I think that particular visualization is extremely powerful, for what it's worth.

about 3 months

[peter_van_erp]

About the time I saw your equinox update, the flush mechanism on our toilet gave up.
Of course, we bought a toilet 25 years ago from some Canadian subsidiary of a French company, so there are no available replacement flush valves. I decided to start the daily clean regardless, and we switched to using a bucket to flush the toilet. A few days in, I realized how dirty the bucket was, so it got added to the daily routine. After several weeks, all the encrusted paint and dirt was off the bucket, although I couldn't do anything about the scratches, so the bucket is not exactly shiny.
The toilet was shiny, though. I give the bowl a good scrub after the morning ablutions, and the entire toilet a thorough cleaning weekly. The plumber finally replaced the toiet about a week before Christmas, and brought the old one to his shop to see if he can figure out a replacement for the exotic flush valve.
The plumber hasn't billed me yet, so that's a financial windfall of sorts. Two clients called me just before Christmas with 3 new jobs, so that's a good start to the new year. This has been the Year of the Knife: had a melanoma removed in August, a 20 year hernia finally repaired in November, and will be getting a hip replaced in the Spring. The 3rd orthopedist I saw finally came to the same conclusion as the chiropractor: that my 3 year problem with my leg was due to a deteriorated hip. He only realized it after I began cleaning the toilet.
Did the Challenge help? Not sure, but I do have a cleaner bathroom, and I'm more aware of my place in the great order of the Universe: one of many sentient beings on a mid sized planet near a typical star in one of billions of galaxies.
On the other hand, as an astronomer friend likes to point out, when (if?) the Big Bang happened, all matter began spreading away from all other matter at near the speed of light. From the point of view of any matter, it has remained in place as all other matter sped away. Therefore, since the matter which formed me has remained in relative place since the BB, I remain at the center of the Universe. As, of course, do you.

Re: about 3 months

[kimberlysteele]

Thank you Peter! Ugh, hernias and orthopedic issues... that sucks. Let me know if you'd like any prayers to Apollo sent on your behalf. It seems funny that a tiny being cleaning a toilet on a tiny planet in a tiny solar system could make a difference, right? Every little bit helps.