Mindfulness Part II: The Iron and Me

Remember how a few weeks ago I wrote about mindfulness? Well today I have another thought to offer on the subject.

See, I got me a new crutch towards mindfulness. You know, as a tool. Turns out, my best shot at reflecting and drinking in experience and silence is, ta-da! An iron. 'Aint I a genius? ;)

Really though, I think It'll help me a lot in the future. As a wife, I have to invest some time in ironing every week and since only my hands are busy, and not my brain, I multitask. Sometimes I put on french lessons on a CD to listen to. Lately I've put on this japanese mini soap opera for practise. But today I really needed some time out to squeeze the most out of Belle Fille's nap. So I decided against anything that might interrupt the sound of peace (as in, none: silence) and prepared myself to be alone with my thoughts. Just me and no one else. Well, except for this other little voice in my head that might be my conscience. Hopefully.

Even though outside my head it was completely silent, inside the chit chat only stopped when I heard Belle Fille stirring in her room. A good two hours! Meanwhile I laughed to myself, gave an occasional snort of derision at some silliness and raised my eyebrows more than once to my insides. I tend to talk to myself a lot, but this time it was different. It was mindfull.

Usually I just let my mind wander, but this time I purposely led myself on from topic to topic in a fixed line. For me, a total scatterbrain, this is quite the accomplishment. I would have this thought and something slightly related but not at all in topic would pop into my head, and I would follow that thought until I realized I was digressing and forced my mind back into shape. This happend a couple of times, but all together I don't think I spent more than 15 minutes distracted.

I'm not sure if I'm kinesthetic but holding something physical like the iron really helped my focus. That, plus the lack of sound really gave me the momentum I needed to concentrate. It was like an anchor. Since we're on topic, I love anchors. I like what they're for, and what they represent. You know, like holding you up against the current; giving you strength to go against the grain. It also has an emotional value to me because at the because at the beginning of my relationship with Hubby I bought these identical keychains with anchors that we could both use without being too corny. (When the keychain broke, I took the anchor, tied it to a green ribbon and used it as a necklace)

So there you go. My anchor: Iron + Silence + Awareness = Mindfulness.

Well, at least that works for me. Now go find your own crutch! ;)

Shifu desu ka (?)

Hello! Like always it's great to be read by you, so welcome! In case you're new, let me tell you a few fast things you probably should know about me.

My name is Nancy, I recently entered the second decade of my life, I got married last year with my sweetheart (you'll know him as Amado or Hubby or anything corny I can think of), and I've got a beautiful baby girl (Belle Fille). I'm in college and I'll be there for Quite a while because I believe the first years of a babe are extremely important and it is my privilege/responsability to be there for her. Plus I actually have the chance to do so, so I do. And man am I enjoying my babycakes! Summarizing, I am a wife/mom/student, housewife is also implied.

Wait, did I say housewife?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did I become... that word?! I didn't sign up for this! Why, why me!? The horror!

Haha just joking. But it did come in the contract, and I signed it anyway.

Seriously though, I used to cringe at the word. Housewife. Brrr! As a young girl and teenager I would dread house chores and when I imagined myself as a grown woman I would only focus on my career; there was never a single broom in sight. Of course I would pay someone to keep my apartment clean as soon as I could afford it. I was well on my way to being a feminist.

Marriage? Pshaw, that could wait until I was like thirty, I had more important things to do. Kids? Sure, someday far, far away in the future. To me a succesful career was to be succesful in life and everything else could wait. (scoff, sooo naive)

At sixteen my Amado and I started dating, became a couple, and a few months later I was deep, way over my head in love with my future husband and all feminism started to ebb away while love letters were at a rise.

As a wife and a mom I've learned that don't really need to prove anything to anyone but myself. And I know me pretty well. I know that I don't need to get burnt out finishing my education quickly because I think my time is better invested on my baby, especially now that she's so young. And that doesn't mean I'm dumb or that I'm not competent enough to finish college. Believe me I'll get that done but it ranks below my family. A childs first years are extremely important and I'm not giving that up just to go to school full time.

You know me, I've talked about this before. I'm partial to the saying "slow and steady wins the race". And I am a definite hard head (in mexican, I'd say "machetito") when I'm sure of what I want, and I know where I'm headed.

And so I'm a housewife. Not a perfect housewife, and I still don't jump up for joy when it comes to washing dishes but I know why I do it and do it gladly. My house isn't impeccable and sometimes I wish I could use disposable dishes instead of washable ones. Heck, sometimes I hate those freaken things! But if it helps my family, bring it on!

PS: I can't promise I won't "accidentally" break a few dishes though x)
IIPS: Shifu is housewife in japanese hoho. Gotta practise somehow!