It’s been two and a half months since I last posted and I don’t want to write one of “where have I been posts”, so let’s just acknowledge that I’ve been a slacker blogger and MOVE ON!
I went to the gym this morning, so there’s that at least. I’m not one of those people who comes back from the gym on Saturday morning feeling all energized and ready to conquer. Quite the opposite, in fact. I come back from the gym pooped. Ready for a nap. Mentally and physically, I’m kind of done for the rest of the day because I feel like I already accomplished a Herculean task and I’m too tired to do anything else.
That’s not really the best way to conduct oneself on a Saturday when there are approximately one million things to do and one has procrastinated all of them for anywhere from one to one thousand days. Like my kitchen, for example. Below is an photo of my actual kitchen as it appeared when I got home from the gym this morning. Note that recycling and fast food trash shares the counter and sink with the dirty dishes.
Although I had already exhausted myself at the gym burning 226 calories on the recumbent bike while listening to Panic! At The Disco on my headphones and reading my latest Book of the Month Club selection, I decided to tackle the kitchen.
Unfortunately, it turns out that our automatic dishwasher is out of order. Permanently out of order or temporarily, I have no idea, but I decided that hand washing dishes would be easy enough, therapeutic even! I’ve experienced life without a dishwasher before and I never died from it (although let’s be honest, I’m really hoping the dishwasher problem is temporary.)
Hand washing was therapeutic. I had my hands in water as hot as I could stand, while I played episodes from Season Two of Riverdale (#Bugheadforever). Me and my thoughts were alone in the kitchen, since even the pets cleared out of the way, probably for fear they might be asked to help rinse and dry.
My kitchen could be a metaphor for something I thought. It’s a mess, a key resource is broken, and the only thing that you can do about it is roll up up your sleeves and get dirty. My kitchen is like our country right now. It’s a mess, our government is broken, and all we can do is roll up our sleeves and do our part to bring on the Blue Wave.
It’s surprising how just a little bit of effort makes a lot of difference, as you can see in the photo of my actual kitchen midway through the dishwasher-less process. Maybe that’s true for our country too. I hope so. We need to have hope.
The challenge at the midpoint was that I wanted to quit. There was a voice that said “It’s good enough. Quit now. You’re tired.” I was tired. So I took a break. But I didn’t quit. There’s a metaphor there too. Maybe it’s “Don’t give up before the midterm elections.” Or maybe it’s “Taking a break when you are tired or discouraged is ok.”
I did go back and finish the dishes. I dried them and put them away. Below is a photo of my actual kitchen counter and sink sans dirty dishes, recycling, and fast food trash.
Now, with my kitchen free of clutter and debris, I can easily see the Halloween display on my windowsill, especially the Tim Burton inspired ceramic piece my daughter made in her ceramics class. That is surely the most important metaphor of all. Stripping your space and mind of clutter reveals what is important to you. For me, that would be my family, represented (metaphorically) by this grinning skeleton head!
I hope my story inspires you to tackle something you’ve been procrastinating, to get back to work after a break, and to see what important thing is revealed to you when you clear away some clutter.
Most of all, I hope you VOTE!
That Halloween decoration is so cute!