Chaos Lives Within

I believe the state of my home is a reflection of the state of my mind.  When my mind is full of discouragement, black thoughts, and general chaos, so my house is full of mess and chaos.  I'm not sure which comes first, but I think it may depend on the day.  If that's true, then I can influence my mood and emotions by keeping a clean house.  Likewise, I can keep a cleaner house when my mood is up.

So, what do I do when both my mind and home are in chaos?  How can I climb out of the black hole in my mind and free my home from the disaster?

Start cleaning. 

That's what I should do, anyhow.  The very act of cleaning can be a meditation, a sacred act of prayer.  Prayer and meditation calm the mind and help me sort out my confusing and often depressed thoughts and feelings. During some of my most distressed times, the repetitive motion of some chores have brought things more clearly into focus and stabilized my frantic thoughts. 

When I clean to calm my mind, I choose a task which I can concentrate on fully.  Doing the dishes, cleaning baseboards, folding laundry.  It's very hard to multitask when doing these.  Multitasking causes more jumble in the mind.  If I focus in on one job, giving it my full attention until it is done, I am practicing mindfulness and creating a quiet space for my thoughts to rest.

Sometimes, instead of starting with cleaning the house, I will work on cleaning my mind first.  I will journal, draw, or crochet.  These things also calm my mind and sort me out, giving me momentum to carry on and clean the house.  What do you do to calm your mind when it is in chaos?  Could you make a chore into a meditation?

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