It suddenly struck me that life is exactly like housework. You clean up and it just gets dirty again.
I’ve always been good at coping with things, and very adaptable. But there’s still something in me that’s surprised when life throws another curve ball. Now I hasten to say I’m not dealing with any major problems at the moment compared to many, (oh dear, tempting fate!) but as soon as I finish one project, or deal with a particular situation, something else comes along.
Whether it’s at paid work or in what I fondly think of as my “real” life, I seem to have an endless list of responsibilities and things to do. How those of you who have children cope, I can’t even begin to imagine and I bow to you in admiration.
But I just realised that up until now I’ve thought of all that as an abnormal state that will one day be “cured”. I’ll get to the end of the list. Well D’oh! The only way I won’t have a list will be when I die, or if I completely disengage from life.
I always get on better with housework if I see it as a mindful activity which clears a path for better flow in my life but is also its own reward. Perhaps all the tasks and responsibilities are best viewed in the same way, not as an interruption to life, but as an essential part of the sacredness of living. I’m sure the answer is in the approach to these things, in awareness.
You have to ask yourself sometimes, “Why did this not occur to me before!”
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Great post! I’m so glad you shared your ponderances with us. Isn’t it funny how often we get to say, “Why did this not occur to be before!” accompanied by many doofus forehead slaps
Your post reminded me of one I read the other day about Kathleen Norris’s new book, Acedia & Me. Here is an excerpt from the book:
‘I was a bratty kid who didn’t want to make her bed.
‘“Why bother?” I would ask my mother in a witheringly superior tone. “I’ll just have to unmake it again at night.” To me, the act was stupid repetition; to my mother, it was a meaningful expression of hospitality to oneself, and a humble acknowledgement of our creaturely need to make and remake our daily environments. “You will feel better,” she said, “if you come home to an orderly room.” She was far wiser than I, but I didn’t comprehend that for many years.’
Hah
I must say I haven’t thought of it quite that way before, but ever since then it’s caused a shift in me, somehow. Unfortunately I haven’t done any more housework since then or become tidier, let alone made my bed. Maybe it takes a while to transfer from the head to the hands 
“You clean up and it just gets dirty again.” so true. it reminds me of meeting with someone today. i said, “the good news is you are definitely making changes. the bad news is you will never be done.”
as long as there is room to grow (or get dirty) it means that i am still alive and kicking (or dancing.) great post, tess!
@Sue, thanks so much for the quote from Kathleen Norris’s new book – very apt. (Oh I remember that “witheringly superior tone” from my own teenage years. The only time I annoyed my Dad so much he had to leave the room because he didn’t trust himself was when I really upset Mum one time with my “tone”.) I hadn’t heard of this book and I think it will have to go on my ever-growing reading list.
@Lucy, years ago when I was seriously thinking of joining the community at Turvey as a nun, I met with a lovely priest at their recommendation to talk things through. One of my questions was something along the lines of “When did you realise your vocation was real?”. He told me he’d let me know if he ever became certain! Not exactly the response I was looking for but I’ve since come to realise the “you will never be done” side of things is actually continuous room for growth. Keep kicking!
And isn’t it incredible that the simple chores of housekeeping are actually …what is the word… delightful? Interesting at the very least. I notice this when I actually pay attention! And then the bigness of everything piled in my lap, reaching over my head, doesn’t seem so tirelessly consuming.
Great post!
Elizabeth
I like this. Life is certainly like housework – especially cleaning mirrors – no matter how hard you work at it you always miss a spot. A timely reminder that we can’t always be perfect! From my point of view I suffer from not being able to relax unless all the housework is done – now, I’m pain-training myself to take a break and relax no matter what needs doing. It doesn’t need doing that badly!! A valuable lesson for a frazzled mother to learn – if only I’d got there 10 years ago! xxx
@Elizabeth, thanks for your comment and welcome to my blog. Yes, you’re right. I used to think that it was only household tasks like baking bread (which I do maybe twice a year!!) that had inherent beauty, but actually anything can with the right attention.
@Green Witch, oh yes, when I read this my mind went to my hall mirror, in front of which I often have a bunch of lilies so the pollen stains the mirror (and the wall). I have to confess that I often don’t clean up, I just put a fresh bunch of lilies in front! Here’s hoping you continue to give yourself permission to take regular non-guilty breaks.
Yes, there’s always something “getting in the way” of what I “really want to do.” I’ve been clearing out some gnat-like chores that surround me outside the home in hope of buckling down to those great little collages that are inside me – and yep, each time I clear – something else shows up in its place. Next week is November, in fact Saturday is November and being a birthday month for me I must CLEAR stuff away and have some time for creating. No, my birthday is NOT November 1, it’s not until the last day of November but in the example of a certain “Lucy, I know” I think celebrating for a month is a great idea:) I think I’ll give myself a couple of collages in the month of November……wow, this housework post got me goin’!