Therapeutic Menial Tasks

Some people opt for spas while others prefer to sweat it out to de-stress. Me? I prefer to do something – something that cleanses. Nope, I am not taking about long showers. In fact, my record holding shower time barely stretches beyond half an hour. Neither am I referring to facial. My tolerance of pain is low when it comes to face.

I prefer to
a) spring clean
b) file my feet
c) iron clothes

Alright, may the third has nothing to do with cleaning, but it is more to do with putting something in order.

Spring Cleaning
Getting rid of unwanted stuff and organizing the remaining so as to achieve a more organized space. Perfect. It is always difficult in the beginning while we go through the motion of deliberating should we or should we not continue keeping. Once we get into the momentum, hmm most things will belong to the ‘throw’ category, especially when we know that we have retained them for yet another year without ever touching them.

I am quite a garang guni, ie I keep things for a long time. My A-level-and-before notes and textbooks were only thrown away last year because I moved into a smaller space where space is the scarce resource. I have kept them year after year thinking that maybe I will need to ‘consult’ them. Yet, year after year, they remained in my drawers gathering dust (no cobwebs, because I cleaned quite often, so spiders did not have a high chance of survival). Let me share with you a secret. My university notes are still with me, even though I almost never refer to them since I graduated. Shh……

Spring cleaning helps to remove the unwanted stuffs, including stress. A cleaner environment brings immense satisfaction. Sweat out to improve the home is definitely a worthy cause. Hey, I am also an advocate for minimalist (aiming, but not attaining it yet).

Filing My Feet
As age catches up with me, dead skin gathers at twice the speed. As the saying goes, there is not ugly woman, there is only lazy woman. Our feet have to carry our weight and support us in our life journey, so we must really take care of them.

Filing my feet is another therapeutic motion. The “sa-sa” of the file on my soles and the flakes of dead skin falling out remove the grim on my feet and the stress in my mind - another thoroughly brainless motion that results in another useful outcome. I am not saying that my feet become baby soft after this manual task but at least the calluses are less visible.

Ironing Clothes
Flattening the creases can be frustrating, but full concentration on this task at hand helps block away our mundane problems. It is as effective as mediation. It also helps to train one’s patience. Speed can work against you in ironing. If you go too fast, the flattening is not permanent and creases can form easily. If you go too fast before you straighten the fabric, you may end up forming a crease with your iron which is even harder to remove.

While one sweats with the ironing, the stress is sweated out. The complex thoughts are given a rest. After the exercise, one seems to have a clearer mind.

The above may sound abit unorthodox, but it works for me. Do you have your own unorthodox ways of de-stressing? Perhaps you can share and next time, I can give those ‘remedies’ a trial.