Soaking Dishes

In our home, ‘soaking dishes’ is a delaying tactic. It’s a euphemism for “I don’t want to scrub this dish right now, and if I leave it in the sink, maybe someone else (usually mom) will wash it later.” It’s like when someone asks us to do something and we reply: “Let me think about it,”—we are usually postponing the decision till a later time.

I like to spend time reading, soaking, thinking, and writing. Since most of these tasks are inactive, I feel like a lazy bum, merely delaying ‘real work’. I usually feel guilty every time I sit still, especially during daylight hours, when I have energy. I measure the value of each day by the amount of physically active tasks I have done. If my work does not produce tangible results, if I don’t have anything to show for it, I feel useless—like I’ve just wasted time all day.

I recently read that one of my favorite philosophers, Henry David Thoreau, was considered ‘an irresponsible idler’ and ‘a loafer’ by his neighbors. (The Great Work of Your Life, by Stephen Cope)

Thoreau—an idle loafer! This made me laugh out loud! It also comforted me greatly. Thinking, ‘wool-gathering’, staring out the window—all might look and feel unproductive, but if it’s good enough for Thoreau…maybe it’s ok for me to spend a few hours a day…soaking—until the hard, stuck-on particles of experience and observation soften—making each lesson easier to deal with.