The Peace Beneath The Crumbs

I cleaned today.

Now, this might not seem so profound - until you see what is beneath the crumbs and dust.

The refrigerator - each shelf, pulled out and wiped down.  Each item, replaced or emptied (reminders of how much food we waste).  

The bathroom, scrubbed - even those corners that I usually ignore.

And the laundry...oh, the laundry.

Today, I took care to move one item at a time from the washer to the dryer.

Usually, I wind up with a balled-up sock that doesn't dry, a "lay flat to dry" item that sneaks in the dryer and isn't laid flat to dry, and a small pair of child's undies that fall out in the hurried transfer from washer to dryer and wind up drying in a hardened crumple on the floor.

Today, one item at a time.

Each sock, straightened out.

Each item, placed in the dryer or on the rack to dry.

And what a relief it was, pulling items from the warm dryer, knowing there are no wet socks nor shrunken clothes.

What a relief it was, while preparing my afternoon iced chai, to open the fridge and not have to try to ignore any crumbs or spills.

How nice it is to pay attention to just what is in front of me and know that as I do,

I offer myself more moments of being able to be peacefully present with it all again.

Namaste.