Dishes

It's probably weird and very unmanly to say this - but I confess I love washing dishes.

Yes, it's manual labor - a monotonous, unpleasant, unavoidable job that most people dislike and procrastinate on. Some would say it's abominable that humans should have to devote their time to such a mundane, unproductive task even as we have successfully automated other similar tasks. And guess what, I have an effective dishwasher at my place.

So I can't really rationalize why I like doing this task. But I can describe the good parts that I feel make it pleasant for me.

There's the running water. You just have to read a couple of stories in public health magazines about the water situation in some parts of the world to start feeling immensely grateful for something that most people take for granted. I flick a lever and there's potentially unlimited clean drinkable water flowing at the right pressure right inside my house. You learn to value it very quickly. But it gets better - I get water at the temperature I desire! This used to be a luxury available to few people not long ago. That thought occurs to me almost every time I turn on the tap.

Then there's the dishwashing liquid - some really good quality stuff is available out there. Perhaps it's some OCD I have but I love when something that's greasy and grimy comes off clean and shiny with just a few drops of colorful liquid and some easy scrubbing.

Sitting isn't all that healthy, they tell us. So I like to stay upright when I'm working on the computer. Dishwashing adds  to that standing time during the day.

Now, once you zone out of whatever you are doing and focus just on the things in front, you start noticing the small details - the warm water flowing over your hands, the smell of the detergent, the alternating soapy and scrubbed clean feel of the vessels,the grime flowing down the drain, the vessels shining and gleaming, the squeak of the newly clean bowl...the rest of the world fades away and I don't even realize when my internal dialogue starts and some new ideas emerge. I feel this is one of the simplest ways to practice getting into Flow. It really acts as a de-stressor.

To get this kind of experience, as Robert Pirsig says, you have to have the right tools. If any one of these things become a burden or things don't work as they should - the water is sputtering or you have to fill it up from a distance, the soap sucks, the place you are standing in is messy or uncomfortable - it will become very easy to hate the work.

I'm lucky to have these simple luxuries. And I like getting them to work for me.