My Own Utopian Experiment #33: Be my own artist in creating soulful life
How do you feel about house chores? In my earlier years, I used to look at it as things I need to do but definitely not the things that I want to do with my time. Honestly, it felt so trivial but taking too much time and energy. I mostly felt I had better things to do. I envision a future day that I would leave this to someone else to take care of the mundane parts of my daily living. When I had this attitude around house chores, it fed more of this attitude and validate my feeling in consistent habitual ways. I did chores without care and joy. The chores tend to pile up and re-enforces the bad feelings. This is dangerous since it is happening unconsciously a lot of time. I was determined to keep it minimal. I was certain I was not “housewife type”. It is so obvious now why I did not enjoy being home back then.
I am a totally different person now. I am outgoing and social. I love to experience and learn different things. At the same time, I love being home and love to enjoy my own company. There’s no better place than my own home. It is where I can have fun, relax, eat, sleep, play and work. Lots of play with books, papers, writings, art projects, cooking and house chores. You heard me right. I said I enjoy house chores when I can take the time to do it. When I more aligned with my inner true self, my house chores started pleasant, satisfying and even relaxing. It is therapeutic when you can be with your own thoughts and focus on one thing. It can be cooking a meal that I am craving, cleaning out a drawer, checking inventory of my craft supplies, looking at my stationaries (I love pretty papers), etc. I personally do not use a dishwasher. I do not judge people who rely on its help. It is just my preference. Satisfaction of rubbing dirty dishes with soap to make it shiny again. Sort of magic.
Another change is paying more attention to my stuff at home. When I use beautiful things, I enjoy what I do. The little things like soaps, soap dish, sponges or cloth for cleaning, a set of my go-to mugs, plates, silverware and other little things can make so much difference. I now try my best not to buy plastics and cheaply made ones. They just seem too fake and definitely not beautiful. If I need to replace something at home and I do not find the right one, I would rather wait for the one I really love. This shift in me pushed me to declutter my house and be more mindful when I do house chores. Doing dishes, cooking, decluttering and cleaning are not less sacred. It is part of art in ordinary living. When you need something, please try to get that one item that is built with beauty and care. You will see what I meant. When you have some urge to do beautiful things like crafts, DYI projects, playing an instrument and many other hobbies, you have to make it happen. Do not dismiss this subtle sign from your soul. For me, I love to try new recipes. Food is special for me. It is feeding body and soul. I love to put an object for inspiration. This is important for me since it gives daily inspirations. If I just finished a special book, I do not put it in bookshelf right away. I put it where I can see it like my desk or table by bed. I have a vision board I created as reminders. I recently got a couple of Frida Kahlo, a canvas frame and a sketchbook with her photo on it. she is one of my favorite artists. Having her presence in my room gives me inspirations to do simple drawings. The sketch book naturally became my art journal with simple drawings. The two little things, canvas and sketch book with my favorite artist, give me so much joys daily. I was using pencils at the beginning and then add color pencils. Then add one fine black marker. Now, I am adding colorful gel pens. I hope my drawing style evolves with time. Because of this process, I have an interesting in using water color pens.
This is how I ended up with multiple hobbies. The more you listen to your soul’s call, the more joys you have daily. The more you know about yourself, you notice more of nice things in the world as well. It feeds each other. This is the kind of wealth I would live to build. I am wealthy in this sense.
Enjoy your home and your own company. Sending my love as always.