Folding clothes is not the sort of thing people write poems about. I’m not aware of the subject being pondered by philosophers. I can’t think of a work by Rembrandt, Picasso, Bach, Beethoven, James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Walt Whitman or Robert Frost which even hints at the issue. Even so, while meandering around the web I was attracted to a video about that very activity: folding clothes. It featured a woman who gave slow and careful instructions as she demonstrated her method of folding.
She said that, first you must express your affection for the clothing. Well, I thought, that is just some Zen thing, okay, get on with the demonstration. But her suggestion stuck in my mind and as I began to fold clothes following her instructions, I took a moment first to think about my feelings toward the clothing. I felt foolish at the moment but that small gesture made a profound difference in my experience with what had before been, at best, a tedious chore.
Now, with my new attitude, I began to look forward to folding my clothes. I not only appreciate them before I fold them, I find myself enjoying them more every day as I put them on. They not only serve to protect me from the cold and abrasion, which would be enough, but they are marvels of design, of weaving and sewing, dyeing, shaping, and buttoning. I notice, too, that as I find new satisfaction in my apparel I feel more relaxed and calm.
I soon realized that I can apply this same principle to any job that I find tedious or unwelcome. Washing dishes, vacuuming, making phone calls to bureaucracies, practicing my ukulele. Now when I sit down to practice, I first look at my beautiful ukulele and wonder at its construction, the wood, the shapes, the strings and I think of the people who made this instrument and how, at the end of the day, they can go home knowing they have brought music and beauty into the world. Then as I practice, I have a rich, satisfying experience instead of just wading through a set of boring exercises.
As we come to appreciate our activities more, it can lead us to consider how to repair other negative areas of our lives. We can hardly calculate the destruction that grudge-holding has brought upon humanity. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet deals with the immensity of these tragic behaviors. We are inclined to hang on to resentments toward people who have said no to us, especially when we were children and unable to understand how those refusals may have been necessary and for our own good. Forgiveness takes time and energy and goes on pretty much forever. Some person or institution will surely aggravate us and treat us unfairly in the future. We will need to be ready to forgive recent insults as well as old ones. Our stomachs, heads and everything else that can hurt will feel better as we reduce the anxiety and agitation that come with anger and resentment.
As those emotions subside it leaves room for focusing on being kind and considerate toward others. You can try these things out for yourself. Fold away your worries, forgive everyone, pay close attention to loved ones and set yourself free. You might also get a ukulele. It couldn’t hurt.
