zen and the art of dish washing.

as odd as it sounds, the act of washing dishes is rather calming.

doing the dishes this afternoon, i spaced out as i went about the routine of soap, rinse and place on rack to dry. ( i think its called a rack, that wire thingy you pop your plates on.)

theres a whole meditative quality to it when youre able to zone out. instead of a mantra, you have the monotony of the repetition and the cycles that different types of crockery and cutlery require for a good clean washing.

plates need you to do the swirly thing with the sponge, either clockwise or anti-clockwise, then the flip and swirl, and onto the other side. or maybe you do the zig-zag thing across the surface instead.

after youve done a few of them, you mix it up a bit with some glasses and cups. you get the lip first with the sponge, which causes the suds to slide into the glass itself. then the sponge is thrust into the glass, and if you do it too hard you get a spurt of foam come flying out

and then cutlery have their own individual set of motions.

the beauty of it all lies in the fact that from within the purpose there is the required repetition that enables one to space out, and the required repetition completes your immediate purpose while enabling you to drift away.

and yet unlike sitting with your legs crossed while humming something unintelligible, dishwashing is about letting the world around you in, as opposed to blocking it out.
the temperature of the water, the pressure level, the density of the suds, etc…. all needs to be controlled while floating off into space on that fragrant apple vinegar scent of clean

and the thing is,… youve probably already experiened this at some point. but maybe you just didnt realise it.

who would’ve thought that tranquility is found at the bottom of your kitchen sink?