My New Favourite Thing To Do

They say change is constant and that as we grow, we begin to experience that said change in different aspects of our lives. But what I never expected was that those changes would also occur in chores that we do at home.

Being the third child of four siblings, I found myself doing the dishes for the longest time at home, and I remember how I used to hate doing it as a child, most especially on Sundays. And this was because Sundays were always stressful for me.

_{photo by Scott Umstattd}

First we had to wake up early to prepare for church, then skip breakfast, and after the whole church service, the moment we got home, one would think food would be the next thing on the agenda, and it was for my siblings... But for me, I had to do the dishes first.

I had to wash everything before getting the opportunity to finally eat. So I hated doing it, and when it eventually got passed to my little brother, who is the fourth and last child, I was more than excited to let him have it.

But you see, one would think that with this much hatred for doing the dishes, I wouldn't want to get close to another dirty plate ever again in my life if I had the opportunity. But strangely, the reverse has been the case for me.

Lately, I find doing the dishes a bit therapeutic for me. Maybe because it's the one time I get to ignore everything happening around me and just focus on my thoughts, because I find myself having the crazy kind of thoughts when doing the dishes now.

Sometimes, it feels like I kind of phase out and my body just goes on autopilot. I find my hands washing the dishes while my mind is entirely somewhere else. For a minute it feels like I black out, and by the time I recover, I'm almost done with the dishes, but I can't remember clearly how I washed all of them.

I know how strange that sounds, but it's a good thing for me because I like being left alone with my thoughts, and maybe that's why doing the dishes has become one of the best things that I like to do now.

No distractions, just me, my thoughts, and some dirty dishes waiting to get cleaned up.