My current project has the team helping out at a summer camp while they host a high school band for band camp. In about half an hour, 300 hungry kids and their instructors are about to storm in for dinner. I wash the dishes. It's a lot, but can be zen like, and this project is only three weeks long. If I hit a stride, hours can pass rather quickly. It's really made me appreciate all the dishwashers I've worked with. Please observe the pitcher of iced coffee on the shelf, looks like I need a refill.
I always liked Thich Nhat Hahn's writings about zen and washing dishes.If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert and a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of doing these things joyfully. With the cup in my hands, I will be thinking about what to do next, and the fragrance and the flavor of the tea, together with the pleasure of drinking it, will be lost.
That is beautiful. Take joy in all things, and don't avoid the difficult or tedious, embrace them, meet them head on. Thank you
Thank you for sharing that, so true. Washing dishes, or any activity that is usually considered mundane or dull reminds me of this Tagore quote. Here it is as read by my grandfather Achim, who introduced me to it. Here it is first in German and then in English: The action is joy!
That was great! Did your Opa just now oblige us with this translation?
No, that was from a long while ago and was used for a #tngpodcast and honestly, I don't recall which one...
I wash the dishes. It's a lot, but can be zen like
-I know exactly what you mean. I washed dishes in college at a very busy restaurant and realized two things. 1. Any work you can bury yourself in and get lost in can be cathartic. 2. And the dishwasher is perhaps the most important job in a busy restaurant. No dishes equals no food.