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 3rd 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.
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.
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