After the Laundry, the Laundry

This spring our dryer knob broke off, forcing me to return to the old-fashioned, solar-powered clothes dryer. Tell you the truth, I am actually enjoying hanging each and every garment, towel and sheet out to dry on the clothesline. And then taking them down, one by one, and folding them before I even bring them inside. Hey, it solved my problem of dressing my family out of a huge pile on the living room floor 3 or 4 days a week. And I find that the mundane begins to take on a meditative quality.

The laundry is what initially inspired my exploration into the relationship between sustainable living and personal well-being. A book aptly titled, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, has been suggested to me -- once by a good friend and once by my yoga nidra teacher. It's about the paradoxical journey of enlightenment; enlightenment not as an end goal, but simply an experience. Try to attach to it, and it quickly eludes you.

I have yet to read the book, but every time I hear the title, I say yeah, and after the laundry, the laundry! At times I feel the everyday beckoning of household chores - clearing the clutter, cooking the meals, weeding the garden, and of course, doing the laundry - is all too much. I hate maintenance. And yet, it simply must be done if we are to live sustainably.

Okay, so I have no answers, folks. But here is what I tell myself:

Some days the laundry is easy, even mind-clearing. Other days it's damned near impossible and it just ain't gonna happen. That's life -- it's made up of ebbs and flows. Just go with it. Try not to worry about the laundry getting done, or the enlightenment coming on. Instead trust that it will, in its own time.

Love,
Jess