Sep 26 2008
After the Dishes…
This morning, I woke up to a gorgeously clean galley. Vast expanses (bwahahaha!) of white counters, free of anything even resembling a dirty dish or spilled food. Clean. All clean.
Jason and I stayed up past everyone’s bedtime, and managed an uninterrupted hour or so to work in companionable silence, me washing, him drying and stowing. You know you’re officially “old married people” when you use your free time to mutually clean your home. We didn’t chat much; mostly, we just attended to our own thoughts.
After reading Thich Nhat Hahn, I hung a sign over the sink once that said “After the dishes, the dishes.” The idea is that even the enlightened must attend to the basics of life, and that even the most basic task can be a meditation, if you do it right. So there we were, in working meditation, washing and drying, drying and stowing, attending to this fundamental corner of our home.
And when I woke up this morning, the galley sparkled far more than its mere cleanliness. Doing dishes the night before is like a gift you give to your morning-self, the gift of a fresh start and a clean slate.
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Ross and I did the same thing last night!! I was so refreshed this morning!
“The idea is that even the enlightened must attend to the basics of life, and that even the most basic task can be a meditation, if you do it right. ” This is the line that stuck in my head when I read it today. I need a sign over my sink that says that. Actually, I also need one over the computer, the washing machine, and probably one stuck directly on the vaccum. I need–really really need– to see the mundanes of life like that, a chance at meditation and personal growth. You always inspire me to blog…off I go.
This is how I feel when I come home from a vacation or from being gone for a few days…I always clean so I come home to a clean house! I’m going to email this to dd, though. She’s had a rough week in “learning life isn’t always balanced” with job, school, life…
A clean refrigerator does this to me, that sense of peace and order. Our fridge is a 1958 model, with a pink plastic interior. It’s a such a cool appliance, but it’s a little on the small side and prone to clutter. My daughter who is living back at home after college is a fridge cleaner. Gawd, I love her, for this and so many other reasons. Last time she cleaned it, she left a little note, “Heidi was here.” love, V ps. I love that line: after the dishes, the dishes.
I like the Zen Buddhist “Chop wood, carry water”. We think there’s more to life than mindfully cleaning the toilet but there really isn’t. The hokey pokey IS what it’s all about.