Not long ago, The New York Times published a fascinating article[1] in which Lydia Sohn, author of Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving, describes her personal epiphany that housework is not a time-consuming annoyance but a fundamental conduit to Sohn’s creativity and to her family’s wellbeing.
Yet Sohn’s article is not the testament of a ‘tradwife.’ Rather, it is about her realisation that outsourcing domestic chores in the interests of time-management were in fact eating away at her own intellectual and creative capacities. With COVID forcing her to stay home with two young children, Sohn discovered how the quotidian routine of sweeping, cleaning and tidying afforded her the contemplative space for unexpected breakthroughs in problem solving and originality. As she explains:
Researchers have found that we’re more likely to overcome a relational or work-related impasse not when we are hunched over our desks in rapt concentration or collaborating in a Zoom meeting, but rather on breaks when we do boring activities or when our minds wander. Approximately one-fifth of our most creative ideas emerge during those times.
In other words, there’s an alchemical process that happens when our bodies are occupied with the mundane or routine: walking the dog, mopping the floor, pruning the shrubs, or washing the car. Our minds are free to wander, and as long as they wander towards positive rather than negative places, they’re likely to carry helpful and constructive ideas or solutions back into our consciousness.
At Koala Eco, we’re often sharing the therapeutic value of using household products that offer sensory as well as hygienic benefits. For example, disinfecting floors and surfaces with cleaners smelling naturally of uplifting and invigorating essential oils from Mandarin, Peppermint and Lemon Myrtle makes for a much more pleasurable experience than most other alternatives. So if you want to follow Sohn’s example and embrace the generative power of housework, treat your mind to the head-clearing aromas of nature’s super-healers.
[1] ‘The Household Chores You’re Avoiding Are Key to a Deeper Life’ The New York Times, Aug 31, 2024
