It started with the dishes.

They were piled up high. beside the sink, on the counter, on the table; everywhere. and I was feeling lazy, very very lazy. I moped around for a while, I read some of this new novel I just got. I frittered time away like donuts and coffee.

And then I said, “dammit, I’m sick of looking at these dishes! I’m going to wash them!”

So I washed the dishes. methodically I collected the dishes from their myriad settlements. I stacked them up, and loaded them in to the dishwasher. I washed the counter. and did I stop there?? NO! even though I wanted to stop, I continued cleaning. I filled the sink with hot soapy water, I washed and dried and put away. rinse and repeat as necessary. and it was necessary. I repeated this many times.

{you may be wondering if I have a point here. please perservere…}

In yoga we are learning the practice of pranayama – the control of the ‘life energy’. sounds flaky, I know, but it’s just a fancy way of saying ‘willpower’. Rhythmic building up of energy, hold and release. It reminds me of the way psychologists try to teach people to relax by telling them to first tense every muscle in their body and then release them one by one.

So what started with yoga has passed over to dishes, and then I decided that there were more important things to apply my willpower to than dishes. So I sat today and worked on my short story. and when I felt like I didn’t want to, I sat there and wrote notes until I came to an idea I liked, which made me want to keep going. so I have finished a first draft of my story, and my kitchen is really really clean! self-discipline is more fun than I’d ever thought…

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