Weeding and things

"No matter how mundane some action might appear, keep at it long enough and it becomes a contemplative, even meditative act."

-Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

As I get older, (as if I have learned anything in my 22 years and 10 months of being), I find the above statement to be more and more true. Activities that I used to consider boring are quickly becoming some of my most treasured times of the day. Take weeding, for example. I hated weeding when I was growing up. Absolutely loathed it. Those hot summer days bent over pulling the unwanted plants used to leave me with sweat running down my brow, an achy back, and a terrible attitude. Up until about 2 years ago, I would've mowed every lawn in the county, pruned every tree in the city, and watched the wretched movie "Willow" 200 times if it meant I didn't have to weed another row of beans. I hated it that much.

Thankfully, my parents continued to assign me weeding as a summer chore because weeding has become... dare I say it... enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, if I had my choosing of what to do with my day, weeding probably wouldn't be at the top of the list. Or even in the first 50 slots. But when weeding becomes necessary, I no longer despise it. I find that this simple, mundane task gives me a chance to withdraw from the world and just BE. Because weeding isn't rocket science, I don't really have to think too hard about it, which means I can fill my mind of things I choose. Or I don't have to think at all if I don't want to. Pretty soon 1 hour of weeding feels like 10 minutes and my mind is at least somewhat re-energized to take on the life that is faced when I step out of the garden.

If you were to replace the word "weeding" with "running" in the previous two paragraphs, you would have another accurate portrayal of my childhood. Running was #902, 376 on my list of favorite things to do between the ages of 5 and 20. However, after going to college and not being able to swim all the time, I turned to running when I was 17. You'll notice that running continued to occupy #902, 376 on my favorite things to do list even after I was running for a good 3 years. I ran because I need to stay in shape for rugby and that was it. Come summer, when I wasn't in rugby season anymore, I stopped running. However, as the quote suggests, if you keep at something long enough, it becomes a meditative experience. I am living truth of that. Over the past 2.5 years, my hate for running has morphed into a great love. These days, I look forward to almost every run I go on. As my life becomes more complicated with all sorts of different things, I find that the simplest of activities, such as running, provide a solace that can be found no where else.