Getting Into The Zen

Via dust mop. Yep, dust mop. As I was dust mopping my new floors today I slowly began to experience a quieting of thought and emotion.  It reminded me of Japanese Zen gardens where the landscape is primarily a bed of pebbles mindfully raked and cared for by the gardener. Moving from room to room lightly pushing the swiffer over the floors I felt a kinship with the pebble rakers and an understanding of the placidity of the simple act of deliberate movement. I thought about the last time I dust mopped (is there another word now? Swiffered?) which was when I was around 12 back in the ‘70’s. Dust mopping was one of my after school chores but the tool then was a big, round cloth mop that had to be shaken outside after use. (Do kids still have chores in the 21^st century? Or has housekeeping become the occupation of or lower socioeconomic women and professional cleaners like Merry Maids?) Anyway, even back then dust mopping was one chore I really didn’t mind because of the ease of the work and the rhythmic movement although I knew nothing about mindfulness or Zen. I only knew it was a good time to daydream and  let all of life’s little irritations fall away. This may turn out to be my new mode of meditation.