Unremarkable Life

We live in a hustle and hurry society, where we are constantly trying to get things done under some deadline (often self-imposed). With this over-arching mindset, it's easy to understand why we might tend to procrastinate doing the mundane daily chores we all face.

But we would be doing ourselves a disservice by disparaging these common, ordinary maintenance routines.

Not only do we feel better when our environment is clean and our to-do list has been discharged, but there are concomitant benefits in dispatching these pedestrian obligations.

When we are faced with trying to skillfully navigate through a difficult conflict, or through a seemingly impossible schedule, we need to be able to find a way to to refocus our commitment and recover our energy.

The solution is simple and obvious to me

I believe that the mundane moments in our lives should be recognized for what they are — a gateway to spirituality. This spiritual aspect comes to us as a reward for being “present," while recognizing the divine in ourselves, as well as in others. It's a dowry I often embrace when I need to recalibrate my engagement with earning a living, and readdress the demands of supporting my family.

“How wondrously supernatural and miraculous! I draw water and I carry wood!” — P’ang Chu-Shih

There is profound spirituality in doing the mundane tasks. Mandated by the human experience, they are performed as a necessary adjunct to it. To many people, these tasks just seem like niggling nuisances. However, rather than avoiding these tasks, we should embrace them. They are the key to a meaningful and joyful life.

The required duties of life involved with maintaining our corporeal self and sustaining our existence are not optional and must be honored. Everyone is charged with taking care of them simply by virtue of being alive and functioning in society. Many (if not most) people do not have the proper attitude for it. But when our cosmic sensibilities are in focus, our chores are perceived as a spiritual endowment, not a burden -- a pleasure not a punishment.

What are these tasks?

Doing dishes, cooking meals, washing clothes, and cleaning house all awaken spirituality by virtue of providing nurturing care for someone — even if only for ourselves. But when they are performed for someone else, they are more profoundly spiritual.

When they are performed from the same motivation Jesus had in washing the feet of the beggar, such tasks are divine, and they become a consummate demonstration of gratitude and an affirmation of the interconnectedness of all life.

“The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things without seeking for itself. It flows into low places men reject and so is like the Way Itself. ” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

We need to be like water

We need to go into the low places to serve and nurture. In the temporal experiences of our daily life, we can find spirituality and we should rejoice. In the performance of life's maintenance, we need to be competent. We also need to be sincerely earnest. Achieving this attitude will put us in a liquid flow toward spirituality and inner peace in our normally dry existence.

In attending to the mundane, serene reverence transcends simple drudgery. If done with purity and an attitude of service, it becomes divine. By giving to others selflessly we attain grace.

"Pierce the mundane to find the marvelous." - Bill Moyers

When piercing the mundane, we nurture the spirit of our fellow man as well as our own. Consequently, the universe expands our capacity for joy, and karma bestows a multitude of bonuses. We receive far more than we give, and can lay claim to heaven on earth.

Receiving more than we give

One of my hobbies is staying alive 😊, and in that regard, I realize something that gives me great satisfaction: I am too old to ever have anyone say about me, “He died in the prime of his life.” You see, I am long past prime and well beyond caring.

I also realize that the phenomenon of aging is far more mental than physical, and seems to be in direct proportion to laziness. Most of us just get too lazy to stay young.

Whether we formally retire or not, we tend to give in to the little aches and pains which stalk our weary bodies, and we savor the contentment of “taking it easy." We take our foot off of the accelerator, and mentally hibernate in our belief that we have earned the right to eschew drama and drudgery.

But it doesn't have to be like this.

Aging is in inverse proportion to our service to others.

Someday when the TV reporter asks me, “What is the secret to your longevity?” I will answer, "I have taken to heart the wisdom provided by B. F. Skinner and Joseph Campbell."

"Even the mundane task of washing dishes by hand is an example of the small tasks and personal activities that once filled people's daily lives with a sense of achievement." - B. F. Skinner

Our Evening Dishes are an excellent source of spirituality.

"We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about." - Joseph Campbell

The rapture associated with being alive

This rapture is known as joy. It is something for which most people constantly strive. If only they understood that our joy can be measured by how much value we provide for our fellow man, they would know that it's ours for the taking.

That's why I look for inner peace by addressing the mundane moments with sincere enthusiasm. They are blessings in disguise. By providing collateral inspiration for my mindful making, they animate my muse and invigorate my writing.

For someone whose passion is some other form of mindful making such as embroidery, knitting, or craft, the practice of honoring the mundane will inspire and guide them in their endeavors, the same way it does for me. It's a universal principle.

I invite you to tap into the largess of a prosaic existence. It's free and it's reliably available.

“How wondrously supernatural and miraculous! I do dishes and I clean the house!” - Ralph Alderson