Cleaning House

Finding employment since moving to Australia has been challenging, to say the least.  Gratefully, there are yoga events planned here and there, but they are scattered across a vast timeline, and it is necessary to do another ‘job’ in-between these events in order to keep a bit of cash flow happening.  Sometimes I have found myself looking through the newspaper and desperately scratching resumes together for jobs I know in my heart that I am not suited for and really don’t even want.  

Needless to say.. and very thankfully… none of these acts of desperation eventuated into a job.  But each of them holds a great lesson in the fine art of letting go of that frantic need to be ‘in control’ and have things look and feel a certain way in order to be happy.

I was offered an opportunity to help out a friend with her business of cleaning homes and holiday rentals.  She simply offered me the work after many weeks of frenzied searching, without me ever saying a word to her.  It was a beautifully effortless offer to do some work and make some extra money, so I graciously accepted.

However, my mind became filled with critical judgements and thoughts like: “But you hold a degree from a Big 10 University, you should not be doing this simple job.  You should be out there saving the world!!” and “You have traveled the world, teaching and sharing yoga practices with thousands of people… You have done "this and that other seemingly 'impressive' thing" blabbity blah blah.... what are you doing cleaning up other people’s messes?” 

Thus is the cutting, controlling, and seemingly cruel behavior of an ego that is desperate to run the show.  The deeper part of me set these tangled thoughts aside and started the job with an open heart.

To my ego’s great surprise, I found that cleaning actually weaves together a whole lifetime of education and experiences. Coming into people’s homes and ‘cleaning up’ is like running a comb through their lives in a certain sense: physically tidying up the living space so that it is clear and fresh and getting rid of the grime and dust that accumulates over time.  There is also an energetic ‘combing’ that happens: a subtle smoothing of chaotic, trapped, and knotted energies, which also build up over time creating a certain feeling of stress or heaviness in the household.  

By the end of the cleaning session, the home feels back to its natural state of peace and tranquility, and the residents can come home from the activities of their day and into that peaceful sanctum.  Ironically, it is very similar to yoga classes, except it’s all done without any spoken words or personal interaction in a mystical and almost magical way that I don’t know how to explain.

Recently also, we donated some cleaning hours to people who cannot clean their own homes and cannot really afford to pay someone else to do it.  

I went to help a lady who has severe rheumatoid arthritis and stage 4 cancer.  Physically, she is a whisp of a lady, but her spirit is strong and her eyes are sparkly.  She met me at the garage in her power wheelchair and asked if she could donate the hours to her neighbor Greta who was having a particularly rough time.  

This woman, so seemingly frail, very graciously helping out her friend in the midst of her own challenges and pain: my heart was so touched at the gesture.  We went to see Greta, and she agreed that the help would be appreciated.

It turns out that Greta was starting her 3^rd round of cancer treatment the next day, after previously having half of her stomach and a portion of her liver removed.  She was very matter-of factly about it all and was busy cooking large amounts of food to freeze and have ready to eat in the coming days when she knew she would feel pretty awful.

Together we changed the sheets on her bed and fluffed up her pillows so that she would have a cozy place to rest when she returned home from the chemo treatment.  We even got servings of food prepared for her cat so that she could just dump it in his bowl with minimal effort. I dusted and vacuumed and mopped the floor with a love that came from a place deeper than any thought or judgment could ever touch.  And I left her house still wrapped in that love.

The whole situation is a huge reminder that every experience, however humble it may seem at the time, holds a rich wisdom that often we don’t expect. The white light of Life shines through the prism of Creation, casting all the colors of the rainbow… and red is no more or less important than purple. 

 

Looking back, it makes all that stressing about resumes and jobs seem so unnecessary.  This act of ‘cleaning’ has gifted me with the knowing that, although it is great to pursue our highest passions, it really doesn’t matter so much what we “do”.  It’s who we ARE that counts, and THAT shines through us in the forms of our thoughts, speech, actions, and experiences, whether it is teaching a class to hundreds of people, or mopping the floor for someone who cannot do it themselves.   

When it comes to the squeeze Life sometimes puts on us, it’s the juicy wisdom which is extracted and assimilated into our inner knowing which is one of the greatest gifts we can receive.  And when we loving let go of trying to control the details of our lives all the time, these rich gifts are revealed in precious ways indeed.