A couple of years ago, I wrote about the practice of stewardship in the kitchen. It was coming from a place of discovery. Having resisted actually cleaning my kitchen or anything else for that matter, for most of my life, I was coming into the value of tending to that which is used to nourish me and those I cooked for.
Quite a long time has passed since then, and in truth I hadn’t thought much about that post, though my relationship with my own personal kitchen stewardship has continued to evolve.
Last month, however, casually strolling through my Facebook stream, I came upon a post by a friend who shared a picture of a huge pile of dirty dishes in the sink. She wondered if she should be good and clean up or be bad and go out and play.
My immediate response was:
Clean it when you really need to. That is… When tending to the heart of your home is a meditation and a home coming. It will wait for you.
I typed that, sent it off and then sat there, rereading what I wrote.
Practice Over Time Changes Things
My answer was so different than what I would have thought or written years ago. It brought a smile to my face because it revealed to me how far I had come in my manner of tending to things, particularly in the kitchen. It was growth I had longed for.
So what I want to share with you is this:
Don’t wash your dishes when it’s an obligation and you would rather do other things and it’s the last. thing. you. want. to. do.
Seriously.
Consider the energy you put into the task and into your dishes and into your kitchen space, when washing dishes is equal to pulling your eyelashes out. There is nothing healthy about that for you or for your home space.
The Magic Of Paradigm Shifts
Think however, of the shift in your body, your mind and your mood when washing dishes is an opportunity to be silent, to slow it down, to show your love and gratitude for the fact that not only did you and your loved ones have something to eat, but everything you are washing facilitated this nourishing meal. Imagine what it would be like when washing the dishes was also done because you *needed* and *longed* for being in this state of caring and gratitude for what was in front of you.
Image what it would do to your daily ritual of dish washing if it was really a tending to the heart of your home, a meditation and a home coming to the core of what you were grateful for.
Clean It When You Really Need To
I’m suggesting that you only clean the kitchen or wash the dishes when you really need to. And this is from both ends.
If you’re not feeling the deep gratitude and the pull of the meditation behind it, wait until you do.
But also, right now and every day, consciously shift how you look at the task so the need is there before you are even faced with a dirty kitchen or dirty dishes to clean up.
Let yourself be pulled by the opportunity to dive deep into the care and reverence that comes with appreciating what you have received from this kitchen and dishes of yours.
Let yourself be pulled the opportunity to bask in the reality of your blessings and the fact that this kitchen and these dishes serve you and yours in the nourishing of your bodies and souls.
Clean it when you really need to. That is… When tending to the heart of your home is a meditation and a home coming. It will wait for you.
Leave a Reply