Dirty Dishes
I remember a time in my life several years back when I was just spinning out with chaos and overwhelm and confusion about a relationship I was in.
I had enough wisdom in that moment to call a support person in Al-Anon, the 12-step program I was attending.
As soon as she answered the phone, I just started word vomiting on her. My energy was frantic and frenzied. She let me spiral for a minute about how I did not know what I was going to do and then she interrupted me.
She asked me where I was in my house. I told her I was in the kitchen. She asked me what I saw right in front of me. I replied that I was looking at a sinkful of dirty dishes. And I will never forget what she said to me next:
“
Candace, what you are going to do right now is the dishes. Feel the water on your hands. Smell the soap you are using. Bring your mind to where your body is”
That has stayed with me all these years.
And I think it’s particularly relevant right now.
We are (still) in the midst of a raging pandemic. We have a president who refuses to concede an election he has clearly lost. In doing so, he is continuing to create the same kind of over arching chaos I felt in my body that day I called my sponsor. People are afraid of what’s next on a massive scale. It’s hard to really relax, breathe and let our guard down.
Life, of course, is unpredictable when things are going well. And we are in an unprecedented time of uncertainty and stormy weather that leaves many of us feeling off kilter, tense, confused and unsure what to do.
So I offer you this simple( but not easy) idea to bring you back home to yourself.
What does doing the next thing in your life look like right now?
Paying bills? Fixing lunch? Sweeping the floor? Sitting with your face to the sun? Journaling?
Perhaps you are feeling called to volunteer or be of service in your community right now.
Maybe it’s putting on some music and shaking, crying and screaming.
Whatever it is, turn toward it with as much presence as you can muster right now. It may not be much and that’s ok.
This is a hard time. This is a hard time. This is a hard time. You are not crazy or overreacting or being dramatic.
Tend to your life in the best way you can right now.
With so much love,
Candace