After a poor attempt at making Pad Thai (my roommate Lauren is going to have to school me in how to make it... her absence tonight is what I attribute to my failure!), I tried to redeem myself in an attempt to be productive. I gathered up the clothes that were starting to overflow from my laundry basket and made my way to the washer. I sorted, loaded, and started the process of cleaning my clothing.
As I continued the process of laundry, folding my clothes on top of the dryer, I found myself thinking back on the school day. My students and I are studying WWII in Europe, and we finished watching an educational film on the Holocaust. Even though I have read, studied, and seen films on the subject, I am still left with the deepest sense of disturbance in my heart. The kids and I watched a recount of how when the British soldiers arrived at Bergen-Belson, they discovered that the Germans had cut the water lines and the prisoners had been without water for almost a week. In a matter of hours, the Brits had patched the water lines and people were finally able to drink and wash.
There was a clip of a woman washing a piece of clothing. That image replayed in my mind as I continued to fold. She stood outside over a faucet and scrubbed the cloth with her hands. I stood in my utility room beside my washer and dryer and played origami with different styled shirts.
How easy it is to take for granted the little things in life. Little things like running water, the opportunity and option to wash my clothes and have them cleaned with detergent with minimal effort. How often do I think, Gee, I sure am lucky to get to do my laundry! Uh... I'm usually cursing under my breath over the fact that there aren't any more socks in my drawer and I'm forced to do something about it...
As I continued the process of laundry, folding my clothes on top of the dryer, I found myself thinking back on the school day. My students and I are studying WWII in Europe, and we finished watching an educational film on the Holocaust. Even though I have read, studied, and seen films on the subject, I am still left with the deepest sense of disturbance in my heart. The kids and I watched a recount of how when the British soldiers arrived at Bergen-Belson, they discovered that the Germans had cut the water lines and the prisoners had been without water for almost a week. In a matter of hours, the Brits had patched the water lines and people were finally able to drink and wash.
There was a clip of a woman washing a piece of clothing. That image replayed in my mind as I continued to fold. She stood outside over a faucet and scrubbed the cloth with her hands. I stood in my utility room beside my washer and dryer and played origami with different styled shirts.
How easy it is to take for granted the little things in life. Little things like running water, the opportunity and option to wash my clothes and have them cleaned with detergent with minimal effort. How often do I think, Gee, I sure am lucky to get to do my laundry! Uh... I'm usually cursing under my breath over the fact that there aren't any more socks in my drawer and I'm forced to do something about it...
But it's not just laundry, it's other things too... like having a warm house, a kitchen to cook in, a bed and room that's my own. How is it that I hardly ever take the time to marvel over all that I have been given?
I want to be the kind of person who stops and takes notice of these things, the little things in life. I want to live a life of realization that I am surrounded by a richness that far too few have been given the opportunity to experience. I want to walk in wonder, and pause in response.
It is a challenge to not become jaded by the monotony of life's seemingly stolid pace, but rather to take in its marvelousness and put on an attitude of gratitude. When this happens, you see more... you hear more... and life ceases to seem dull and mundane.
The little things in life. They're what make it worth living.
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