Why I Adore Washing Dishes

Now, you might think I’m weird, or perhaps completely bonkers, but this goddess absolutely adores washing dishes.

After dinner is done, Husband Muffin goes off to do some work in the office, Youngest Tax Deduction goes off to study, and the hubbub of lively conversation is replaced with the clink of freshly scrubbed glasses, china goes in grubby and comes out clean.

Up to my elbows in hot soapy water, I relish the peace. I’m grateful for the hot water pours forth at the turn of a knob, that I have beautiful dishes, and good food to serve on them.

I swish,

and think,

and rinse,

and thank.

Believe me, sweetheart, it wasn’t always this way.

In the old days, when I was stuck and fed up and quietly desperate about how life was rushing by, unlived and unfulfilled, I  used to get all snarky and pouty at having to clean up all by myself after I’d cooked the whole bloody meal … all by myself!

I’d sigh loudly and bang cupboard doors, just so everyone would be VERY aware that I’d rather be doing something else. But when Husband Muffin would offer to help, which he always did, I’d be all, “No, I’ll do it. It’s quicker that way.” or some other equally pathetic whine.

Can we say … abject martyrdom? I had it down pat!

But as I stepped up to and into full-blown goddess-iness, I began to realize that this simply wouldn’t do.

After all, one cannot be a mighty champion of living a luscious life if one is going to spend every evening whining over a limp dishrag, now, can one?

No, gentle reader. A drastic re-frame was in order.

Now before I continue, I do want to mention that I do, in fact, own a dishwasher (the machine kind), but I’ve  loved washing up since I was big enough to stand on a chair at my mother’s sink … and I was really only using it as a weapon to make myself feel better by making everyone else in the family feel worse.

Sooooo … how would a goddess do the dishes, or for that matter, any other otherwise tedious and mundane household task?

Well, the answer was, she wouldn’t if she didn’t want to,

or she’d damn well find a way to enjoy it.

(Of course, scrumptious one, you are a smart cookie and totally get that this applies to more than just dish-washing, right? But for the moment, we’ll just stick to this as a metaphor for life-lusciousness in general. Ok? On we go.)

So for example, a goddess who absolutely loathes washing up might put it on her list of “Things To Stop Doing” and outsource it to the machine under the counter or nearest offspring.

Or ….

She could do as I did and totally reframe it.

Since Husband Muffin has to work in the evenings, and the Son has college work to do, I decided I would find a way to relish my evening chore and turn it into a moment of meditative motion.

I made it a full-sensory experience with pretty gloves (DO note the matching brush … makes me smile) and deliciously scented, good-for-the-planet soap.

Making Chores Pretty!

 

I began to see it as an opportunity to be thoroughly grateful for the ordinary miracles of modern day life …

Grateful that I didn’t have to carry the water on my head or on my back, from the only well, two miles from home.

Grateful that I didn’t have to make a fire to heat the water.

Grateful for the gorgeous dishes I’m cleaning and the nourishing food they held.

Grateful for the people I’d shared my meal with.

Just.

Grateful.

And for those few minutes, regardless of the past, or the future,
I am fully,
deeply,
PRESENT.

And that’s not a chore at all.

 

Bliss-ings and huge love,

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS Do you have something you absolutely loathe doing around the house? How could you reframe that?  I’d absolutely love to hear about it, so do share your thoughts in the comments, won’t you?

PPS Sometimes it’s very hard to see the solution to a problem when you’re up to your eyelashes in it. That’s where a coach comes in rather handy. Here’s how I can help.