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How washing the dishes can change your life.

Last week, I made the decision to stop loading up the dishwasher and start cleaning, drying and putting away my own dishes immediately after I finished using them. Nothing spectacular about that, perhaps, but sometimes it's the little changes that can make a world of difference, because they can be symptomatic of the big issues in our life.

1. Carpe diem

Take for example, our tendency to procrastinate and never really finish things. Sometimes we start a project, and along the way the temptation arises to take it to a certain point and then finish it at some hazily defined 'later', which of course may never come! Isn't using the dishwasher a bit like that? We put the dishes in and turn the machine on, but the job still isn't finished, because the dishes have to be taken out again and put away. And (at least in our house) they tend to stay in the dishwasher for a couple of days, as a steady stream of dishes piles up in the sink, until someone finally decides to take a few minutes to sort things out again.

One of the great advantages of washing your own dishes and putting them away again is that the job is finished once and for all. In the book 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui', space clearing expert Karen Kingston describes how unfinished tasks can actually be quite energy-draining, as they lie there as an extra burden in your subconscious. Finishing something - even a tiny matter like washing the dishes - can give you the momentum you need to see what else you can finish today.

2. Being in the moment

Washing the dishes is one of those tasks, like sweeping courtyards or raking leaves, that lends itself very nicely to a meditative state. We usually view these tasks as necessary evil that delay us from whatever we want to do afterwards, but instead we can take it as a couple of minutes of time out - switch on some music, and focus on being in the present moment. It is moments like these when creative inspiration comes to the fore: "The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes.”, celebrated crime writer Agatha Christie once said. The simplicity of the task is something that lends itself to simplicity of thought. Meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy once humorously remarked that the two 'inwardly' best paid jobs were giving meditation classes and - you guessed it - washing the dishes!

3. Let's see what else we can do...

There is also the simple fact that you decided to make a change to some aspect of your life and see it through. We are all creatures of routine, and it can take a lot of energy to shake us out of our 'groove' and make a change to that routine. but once done, that energy often tends to find an outlet in new ideas and suggestions. Perhaps decide to tackle the mess in the garden shed, or cut down on drinking so many cups of coffee or restart that old running habit you've let slide? Choosing to wash the dishes yourself instead of putting them in the dishwasher is something small, but then the ripples of putting that change into effect could be bigger than you think!

Humorous quotes about dishwashing (and husbands!):

"No husband has ever been shot whilst doing the dishes"

"It's a wise husband who will buy his wife such fine china that she won't trust him to wash the dishes”

(both anonymous, understandably)

"The washing of dishes does seem to me the most absurd and unsatisfactory business that I ever undertook. If, when once washed, they would remain clean for ever and ever (which they ought in all reason to do, considering how much trouble it is,) there would be less occasion to grumble; but no sooner is it done, than it requires to be done again. On the whole, I have come to the resolution not to use more than one dish at each meal."

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844) - Mrs. Hawthorne was most likely away at the time.

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