8/10!

So I actually like doing the laundry.

ducks

I know I'm only one person, and I am blessed to have a washer in my apartment. No kids at home that get dirty just looking outside. Don't have to haul laundry to a laundromat. I don't do laundry for a living. I am ultra blessed in the laundry department. If you are not, hugs.

To me, though, there's something simple about laundry. Something uncomplicated. Almost primal. I would love to be at the river all day singing medieval love songs while beating my clothes on a rock.

Yeah, that wouldn't last long.

My least favorite part of laundry is matching socks. So I've started using the Mary Poppins' Spoonful of Sugar philosophy. "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap, the job's a game." (1.) A week's worth of socks to match is a week's worth of sock toss glory for me! This little game amuses me to no end. I open the sock drawer of my dresser, which is in my closet. Then I pile the unmatched socks up on my bed in the bedroom. And then the action! I try to toss as many matched rolled socks into my open dresser drawer from the bedroom. It's about eight and a half feet. (Yes, I measured because I'm OCD like that.) The goal is to get in as many as possible.

Now there's a reason I played soccer growing up. Throwing sports have never been my forte. But this game is simple. It makes a tedious chore tolerable. And it's something I look forward to every time I wash socks. My personal best? 8/10 on January 7th, 2024! And the crowd goes wild! Willow! Willow! Willow! Willow!

Does anyone else wrap themselves up in the fitted sheet warm from the dryer and pretend it's a cocoon, or is that just me?

There's also something divine about the laundry. It's a cleansing, literally, but also figuratively. Yes, I'm washing away yesterday's sweat and deodorant and toothpaste spittle and spattered catsup away. But I am also washing away things that happened yesterday, days ago, even weeks. I have become deliberate about my laundry lately. As I put my clothes in the washer, I think back to when I wore it last. Did I wear it on a good day? If so, thank you Universe for that happy time, and into the washer it goes. Was it a not so good day when I wore it last? If so, thank you Universe for getting me through it, and is there anything I can learn from that day, and into the washer it goes.

Do I do this every time I do laundry, or remember what happened when I wore every piece of clothing I'm washing? Of course not. But the times I do slow down and think about it, I am always the better for it.

If you abhor laundry, what can you do to turn it into a game? Or break laundry up into manageable pieces if that helps. I wash and hang dry one day, fold and put away another. That way, it's not so much all at once. Fun the laundry. Simple the laundry.

Try to be deliberate when you are doing the laundry like I did. Say a little prayer for your kiddo while folding their favorite Spiderman shirt that you finally wrestled off of them to wash, the one with the frayed webbing in the armpits (Toby, cough, cough). These moments don't last forever. Deliberate the laundry.

And if you're feeling it, fun, simple, and deliberate other areas of your life. Notice how many times your annoying coworker checks their phone, and get up for a movement break every five times. Hate raking leaves? Hide a toy in the pile and tell your kiddo it's a treasure hunt. Dishes. Man, dishes SUCK. Take the time to be thankful you have food when so many in the world do not. Send up a positive vibe for those who might be hungry. All kinds of options! Whatever you try, it'll benefit you in ways you never even dreamed.

Traffic! Imagine if we all deliberated traffic! What a wonderful world that would be!

Yeah, that wouldn't last long.

1. Stevenson, R. (1964). Mary Poppins. Buena Vista Distribution Company.