Letting go… of the prickliness in everyday tasks

View them as meditations instead

Yeah right. How much more new-agey and woo woo can I possibly sound? It does remind me of a day many years ago when my friend and I took visiting French students to the Osho commune. Some of the commune members were cutting vegetables for their meal. They solemnly explained to us how cutting veggies was their meditation. And that they were converting this simple task into a meditative experience.

My friend and I struggled very very hard to keep a straight face. Most giggly teenagers would do so. The moment we were out of their sight and earshot, we burst out laughing. “Cutting vegetables is meditation!!” more chuckles followed. “The woman was probably going to cut that one cucumber for the whole hour at that meditative speed!” we doubled up with laughter. “That cucumber may have to be appetizer, entrée and dessert” more giggles ensued. Sigh… insensitive teenagers who find everything funny fill our world, don’t they? We certainly gave our bellies a good workout that day with our laughter.

I was reminded of those relentless giggles today as I read a piece by Bari Tessler Linden, a money-therapist and coach. In her Golden Nugget series, she recounts how her husband who hated bookkeeping had converted it into a meditative process. How when he started meditating through bookkeeping, it “shifted his entire experience”. While the giggly teenager from long long ago still wants to burst out laughing, a relatively boring middle-aged-me wonders if that is possible. And if so, how do we make it happen. For it would certainly take the prickliness away from all things mundane that we cringe at having to do.

While I have no techniques or knowledge to offer, I imagine like in meditation, we would try and focus only on the task at hand with equanimity and lack of judgment. As in breath meditations where you are asked to bring your awareness back to your breath, you would do the same with the task. Notice the thoughts and body sensations that fleet by and bring the awareness back to the task.

Hmm…definitely worth a try. For staying in the moment and focusing only on the task at hand can definitely have its benefits. And oh yes, I do have some vegetables to chop and dinner to cook. Let’s see how meditative I can make that! Onion, parsnip, and squash… here I come.