Zen Chores

I like washing dishes and ironing. I don't like getting started on either - like I said before I am an Olympic Procrastinator - but once I start I find both highly relaxing.
The thing with ironing and washing dishes is that you have to pay attention. You can't have your mind darting about or you'll scorch fabric, break glassware, or slice off a finger with a dirty knife. You have to pay attention to what you are doing.

We live in this crazy world where "multitasking" is worn like a badge of honor. Multitasking just means that you aren't giving full attention to anything, so really everything gets done in a halfassed way. Things are not done well, and they actually take longer to do. That's inefficient. When you switch from this to that and back again, every switch means your brain has to change gears so you can sort of focus on the new task.

Imagine you were crocheting a blanket and building a desk at the same time. You pick up the crochet hook, get the yarn arranged to hook, do a few stitches, then you put it all down and work on the desk. So, you pick up the screw driver and a screw, find the pilot hole, place the screw and set it in place before turning back to work on your blanket. Put the screwdriver down, pick up the crochet hook. You can imagine how long it would take to complete either task! That's what your brain is doing when you multitask. Eventually you have a blanket and a desk. The desk wobbles a bit, and the blanket is longer in some places and missing a few stitches, but they're done. Finally. And in the meantime, you've developed a short attention span.

You can't really flit about when you're washing dishes. You wash, look for and feel for stuck on bits you missed, rinse, stack, repeat. You might sing while you wash but you have to pay attention. And when you finish, there's a peacefulness. You accomplished this one thing, and the result is more than just a clean pile of dishes. Somehow, there's a clean pile of spirit inside you. That's because if you are fully focused on whatever you are doing, your mind can't run off in tangents. The 'monkey' settles down and becomes the 'monk'. Being focused is meditation. And meditation relieves stress and promotes well being.

People often say 'I don't have time for meditation' and 'I don't know how to meditate.' Go hand wash a sink full of dishes. Look at every dish, make sure its clean. It only takes a few minutes more to wash them than it takes to rinse and stack them in the dishwasher. That's a few minutes of focused attention - not worrying about how to resolve the 87,000 problems you face each day- just washing some dishes. When you tame the monkey-mind, even for a few minutes, you discover that in the quiet are the answers you need. They've been there all along, now you can hear them.