Careful: Folding Laundry into My Practice

Okay, so I am in this horribly depressed, despondent mood again. This time, I started to zone out, but I decided it would be more interesting to see what goes on; so, I persuaded myself to stick around and see what I could see.

What I saw going on mentally was incredibly boring and trite, which made me understand why I wouldn’t want to stay awake for it. There was something else, however, which was that I spontaneously got up and started folding my laundry, and I could see that somehow this was part of the pattern too, because I didn’t get distracted at all by this activity from what was going on in my mind.

But then, I got distracted by what was going on in my mind, and began feeding the negative thoughts, although I was sufficiently aware to not get caught up in the thoughts themselves. Then I noticed this, stopped feeding the thoughts, and the laundry folding resumed until it was done.

In spite of the down mood, there was this restlessness, this refusal to give up, underneath which I found a stubborn optimism that just won’t lay down, and sometimes seems to result in unrealistic expectations. What am I to do with this perfectionism?

There’s so much to do, and yet there’s nothing to do. There’s nothing that can be done, and yet everything that can be done is being done already, because everything is working perfectly already, just as it is. The mind insists that something must be done until everything is perfect, and yet everything is unfolding just exactly the way it’s supposed to. The mind never gives up trying to fix things; so, we have to give it meaningful work to do, such as meditation, mindfulness, careful attention and kindness in all our activities. On the other hand, folding laundry can be pretty good too! LOL.

If I put forth my best effort in whatever I do, and believe that, all things considered, I am putting forth my best effort, then the mind will be satisfied with everything I do, and everything will indeed proceed perfectly, regardless of the results. Perhaps this is the reason that the intentions behind our actions are emphasized in Buddhism—this tendency of mind to want to do the right thing, always. Tall order, huh? (Pauses to fold another load.)

Jack Kornfield wrote a book called, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry. My conclusion: sometimes the laundry is the ecstasy.