17:58
While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that’s precisely the point. The fact that I am standing here and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality. I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, A manual on meditation.
Last Sunday, for the first time in a very long time, I spent several hours ironing clothes. It was really enjoyable and calming. With something easy to watch on the television and lost in the details of each item I was pressing, I found a kind of meditative state and was completely unaware of how much time was passing.
On Friday we got some bad news about a family member (I won’t go into detail here: it is neither my story to tell, nor the point of this blog entry). It came from out of the blue and, as these things are wont to do, has knocked us rather violently sideways. It’s the kind of news that has the potential to overwhelm the hearer and it’s very hard to keep your mind off it. Yesterday I found myself phaffing on the internet, trying unsuccessfully to find something to take my mind off it and, instead, becoming steadily more and more miserable. When I thought rationally about how I felt, I was reminded of the quote above by Thich Nhat Hanh and realised that ‘washing the dishes’ (although I never actually do) was what I needed.
Today I made an effort to keep myself occupied and away from the computer as much as possible. In reality I didn’t do all that much. I haven’t cleaned the house from top to bottom, or completely re-organised the garage (I’ll save them for another day). I read the newspaper, did some washing, made our bed, wiped down the kitchen benches, continued in my half-arsed attempts to get Leila’s toilet training started and spent several more hours ironing clothes.
The whole time that bad news was present, humming away in a corner of my brain in much the same way that my tinnitus does. But, because the rest of my brain was occupied and absorbed in what I was doing, it stayed in it’s corner and hummed relatively quietly. And so, I was not sent mad by it. I even came close to regaining that meditative state while I was ironing.
So, what is my point? It’s that there is a peace to be found in the mundane and menial tasks we do day in and day out. That giving ourselves over to those tasks and focusing on them is a form of meditation that I can do many times in every day. And it just might be the saviour of my sanity.