chores

in the springtime it is so easy to see the Earth as a living being. things seem to happen litteraly before our eyes. one day the trees are bare, the next they are alive with the brightest shade of green. the flowers on the trees bud, bloom and fall to the ground within a week for most trees around here. and the birds - one week the outdoors is relatively quiet, and the next there's an entire chorus of them singing and playing in the trees, bushes, even in the pile of sticks where the groundhog lives.

i was thinking the other day that if you filmed the unfolding of Nature for a week, let's say, and then sped up the film, there'd be no argument then that these beings around us, the trees, the plants and everything are truly alive. theoretically, we all know they're alive, but how many people treat a tree like a truly living being?

i feel that my senses have been dulled so much, maybe by too much city life, by lack of awareness, and who knows what else; how could it have taken me so long to realize these things? but it doesn't matter so much; all i can say is that i feel truly lucky; this is my idea of paradise, right here, and i am living in it. springtime makes it so easy to feel blissful.

on a different topic...

last week, ed and i were having some hard time over stuff that needs to be done in the house. neither one of us likes to do laundry, for example, especially the folding and putting away part. so, as a result, laundry sometimes accumulates on our back porch, where the washing machine is, in a pile of dirty clothes, pretty nasty, not to mention that we can't even walk to the door bc of it.

so a thought occured to me and i later shared it w ed. i told him that i felt that we shouldn't do anything unless we can find a way to do it joyfully. i know it sounds like the laundry will never get done this way; but i don't think it needs to be like that.

my feeling was more that we should not do things if we're going to do them in bad spirit. because with all the things that need to be done on a daily basis, we'd end up spending our lives feeling miserable and resentful. so i think it really important to figure how we can bring joy into doing what needs to be done, the dishes, the laundry, cleaning the toilet, whatever. for me, seeing chores as part of my own spiritual discipline works, it lets me bring joy into it. or just thinking about having a clean floor, without too much stuff sticking to my feet as i walk by, at least for a day.

so i told ed that if he can't figure out a way to do the laundry joyfully, or at the minimum without resentment and negativity, then he shouldn't do it. i'd be ok with that, and hopefuly i'll be able to pick it up. and maybe he'll pick up something i can't do. i really think this can work, bc i know that we both want it to, and we respect each other enough not to take advantage of the other.

so it's been a week since we've talked about all this, and i have to say that, at least for this short while, things have been working better. at least as far as the laundry goes, we can actually walk outside through the back porch w/o tripping on clothes and hampers. i can't say that joy came by itself when i was doing laundry; of course i would've preferred to be sitting under the tree reading my book; but that's not the point. at the time, as i did the laundry, i just kept reminding myself that i can turn this too into something positive, that this time is precious and i can enjoy it; enjoy the breeze i felt as i folded; or the sweet smell of blooming apple trees; and other little things like that; it kind of worked.

peace and Happy Mother's Day!