Of Rituals

A young friend of mine at Facebook wrote something like:

"I hate housework! Hate it. Hate it. Hate it."

Uh-oh. Housework is a Fact of Life. Well, unless you're wealthy and can hire help for it all or if your spouse does your cleaning for you. But for most of us, hey, it's there. The floor that gets dirty, the dishes in the sink, the laundry, vacuuming, beds which need to be made, the cooking, the--

That's a whole lot of stuff to hate! Besides, hating anything (or anyone) zaps energy which could be put into work or creativity, instead.

So what to do?

Teach ourselves to enjoy housework--and create some lovely rituals.

I put dishes into soak, light a candle, turn on the radio. Then I might feed the birds, sit down inside or on the patio and read a few pages of a good book. 

Then I wash a few dishes, put some others in to soak (I store dirty dishes in the dishwasher whose handle is currently broken, not that I used it that often before), do some dusting, then return to my book. Or check my email or blog. 

Then I might put in a load of laundry, finish the dishes and sit and watch a few minutes of Oprah. Make dinner during the commercials. Or bring in tomatoes from the garden, peek at the new growth or pull a handful of weeds.

I try to mow the lawn in the early morning while it's cool. I water my plants on Mondays and Thursdays and have special days for vacuuming, too. And always there are my books, the computer, the tv and times for staring out the window as my rewards for completing my tasks. Coffee and toast and lunch breaks, also. 

So many rewards to anticipate.

What's there to hate about housework done that way? I'll tell you what I hate-- I hate it when I look at housework like a necessary evil and leave it all until it becomes a cluttered, grimy, out-of-control mess. It's then I must attack that mess while kicking myself for not keeping it under control sooner.

So much of our lives involves cleaning and organizing our homes. Why not enjoy that time? 

Why not seek ways to make it go faster, easier (realizing the less we own, the less time we must spend caring for our stuff)? 

Most anything in Life can be made distasteful. Most anything can be made enjoyable.




*****

"Attitude, attitude, attitude."  


Want to read a fun autobiography? I'm just now finishing Patsy Clairmont's delightful, I Grew Up Little. Highly recommended.


*****

To the kind soul who left a nice comment which is not showing up at my last post, please forgive me. It was early, 4:45, and I accidentally hit delete instead of publish. Gah! That's what I get for approving comments all bleary-eyed in the morning.


*****