Simple Pleasures, Everyday Joie de Vivre.

The bloody dishes! For years I struggled with this hang-up about doing the dishes. They don't bring me joy. What a headache! Lying on the couch in a state of inertia, knowing that there were dishes to be done and not being able to. It got on top of me. I did usually do them, at least I tried. At some stage I stopped using soap, I felt that with a scourer it was unnecessary, and that it was cheaper and more environmentally friendly. My dishes were always smudged though. It took me ages to work out that soap was helpful in doing the dishes. It's cleaner too, I'm so messy that I have to clean the house every morning.  Almost every night I would bail on the dishes and plan to do them in the mornings. I guess washing the dishes really only takes about 10 minutes. Tea-towels are nice but basically I would leave them to drain. With the dishes you can easily apply the Pareto principle, where 80% of the outcome depends on 20% of the causes. The parable being that If the kitchen is d...

Meditation is the practice of focused attention. It can incorporate mindfulness, witnessing and clarity by using sitting, breathing, chanting and movement exercises. It is a form of relaxation and can improve mental and physical health and some say it can help you to reach nirvana, or enlightenment. It is particularly good for stress and anxiety. You can practice it as much as you like, once or twice a day, but 20 minutes in the mornings is a good place to start. There is a saying in Zen that 'You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you are too busy, then you should sit for an hour'. When you sit in meditation, you sit cross legged with correct posture and practice deep breathing.  Meditate, Definition verb (used without object), med·i·tat·ed,   med·i·tat·ing. verb (used with object), med·i·tat·ed,   med·i·tat·ing. to meditate revenge. to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect. to engage in  transcendental meditation , devout religious contempl...