There is something rather precious about washing your own clothes by hand. Owning that much time in a day to be able to spend an hour and a half scrubbing and washing, precious time usually crammed with working, walking, driving, talking, cooking, eating, drinking, running up and down stairs. To stand in the mud and clean each member of my clothes family one by one and appreciate their beauty, the materials and colours, being careful not to scrub too much. It puts pale comparison on shoving handfuls into a front load washing machine and pressing go.
When life offers you times of no work and therefore no income or stability, other things present as the important parts of the day. Especially when you are living somewhere where modern frivolities just aren't available or over priced for tourists, it's then you need to draw on what you do have - and for me right now it's time.
There is something to be said about resourcing, both internally and externally, reaching to the available resources to achieve daily tasks. When the balance shifts, working longer hours or dealing with long periods of being 'too busy', extended periods of no work, or waiting upon new job or housing opportunities, the only way to keep the cogs working in a forward motion is to look around and see what the biggest available resource is. Time, money, love, passion towards something, friends and family, tranquillity. Could you share resources with someone else? Pair up with a friend or new acquaintance and swap a portion of your resource for someone else's?
There is a clarity in the simple things in life which we seem to overlook. A beauty in enjoying the resources most available to us on that day. Taking a moment to be aware that this resource is precious and will not last forever. Something else just as precious will take it's place and bring joy in a different way.
Are you in touch with what you've got lots of today? Maybe today's the day to ditch the washing machine and get to know your clothes, one by one. You never know, by taking this time to appreciate, you might learn a little more about yourself, or if nothing else, how much you appreciate your washing machine!
Sending sunshine from Oaxaca, Mexico.