The magic of tidying

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@Dimity wrote:

@tyme there's a Zen mindset that's sort of like mindfulness where you're only open to the task at hand. But it takes practice.

Just being in the present and not worrying about the past or future might br a cop-out but it's calming and can help your focus.

I tried learning Zen meditation from a former monk but as soon as I silenced my mind my unresolved pain would surface and I'd be in floods of tears. It's an odd style of meditation as you do ut with eyes only half shut and you remain alert and aware of your environment while simultaneously focussing on breath (I think - it was a long time ago). And correct posture was insisted on. Very disciplined.

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I've never heard of this. Do I just look up Zen mindset??? @Dimity Do you have a link I can refer too? I'm soooo bad at focusing on the one task at hand. I'm everything everywhere all at once

@tyme you could google Zen mindset but that's a deep dive into the middle of something that actually takes time and practice.

The thing is to recognise when your mind is opening a new tab and gently try to close it again. Zazen is hard, very hard. I recommend you explore Christian meditation or centring prayer instead. You sit in silence mentally repeating a mantra eg Maranatha (Come Lord Jesus in Aramaic). When your mind wanders (and it always will) you gently call up the word again. You can start small and build up the time in a daily or twice daily practice. When you've had this practice for a while it's easier to empty your mind during the day when you're going about your tasks. Eg if you're washing the dishes all you're doing is washing the dishes, not ruminating on a million worries. That's in effect a Zen practice.

Maybe look at https://wccm.org/meditate/how-to-meditate/

Other meditation practices watch breathing or count breaths. During daily tasks mindful breathing can help launch us into the mindfulness we want.

I confess I haven't meditated properly for ages but I still aspire to mindfulness.

Wow. That's powerful @Dimity Thanks for sharing. I'll look at it tonight. I totally understand the concept though. Makes a lot of sense.

You will probably have more hard rubbish ready for the streetside pick up in August, @Dimity 🙂

After a wine or three last night I found a new kitty on Facebook and decided I must have him! Today I kind of wish I hadn't messaged them because it all just feels too hard. I would love some company for my current princess, but can I be bothered? And I'm thinking well, too late now. I know I could back out if I really wanted to, but I'd feel pretty crappy, so I guess I'm committed.

But I spoke to the rescue lady today and she's talking about someone coming and doing a check. It won't be for a couple of weeks, so my plan is to whinge about it for a minute, and then plan to actually scrub the whole house, top to bottom. No gentle ten minutes a day, no room for procrastination. I'm currently feeling really overwhelmed, but I'm excited to think I might feel like I've had a bit of a mental scrub and can start with a clean slate.

Mostly - aarrrggghhhhh!!!!

@Shaz51

A new kitty! How exciting. I hope you can meet him soon.

Definitely sounds motivating @Chantarelle . Good luck with it all. Please keep us posted re progress.

In 4 days I've sorted 4 small bagsful to donate. It's not much but I'll try to keep going.

I got to 8 bags which made a bootload.

Now to do it again.

Only 1 bag so far.

Inching along. Another bag. A lot of angst and overwhelm at what remains.