The surprising joy in simple, mundane work

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My masters degree took me about 7 years and $35,000. I spent the time and money in order to further my education on a topic I loved (psychology).

My education was also my ticket out of the cleaning and admin clerk jobs I’d held over my youth. Mundane work was now beneath me (insert eye-roll).

Fast forward a decade and I’m in the middle of a flower picking job. 

For 8 or so hours, everyday, I pick the flowers of kiwifruit plants. That’s it. Hands up in the air, pick into a bag, repeat. 

It’s about as mundane as it gets

But it’s actually my second year doing this seasonal work. I’ve gone back because I’ve found incredible joy and peace in this repetitive, physically demanding work. I’ve discovered that in this monotonous work, the ability to enter into a meditative state that fills my soul.

I never found this state during my time as an intelligence analyst working for the New Zealand Police Force. I didn’t find it when I worked as a research assistant looking at treatment pathways for cancer. And it wasn’t there when I did complex meta analysis for treatment injuries. 

There is fulfillment in both types of work. And a season for both. 

Wisdom from the Buddhist monk 

Buddist monks are known for their dedication to hours of sitting and meditating. But they are also known for spending hours sweeping. Both are meditation. One is still, one is active.

The hours they spend sweeping, and cleaning could be conceived as mundane. But in his 2018 book, Shoukei Matsumoto, describes the cleaning rituals in a way that makes them seem soothing and almost beautiful. And this is his intent. To teach a kind of moving meditation that is perhaps more accessible to us than the sitting still one.

There are two key ways that this type of repetitive and monotonous work can help us deepen joy in our lives.

Reduce your anxiety and find a sense of calm

The first way is the reduction in stress and anxiety when we are focused on a task. When practiced in the way these zen monks practice, without outside distraction and with concentration on the present moment, anxiety can subside. 

A focus on the present moment gives us a break from our minds. If we can train ourselves to focus on one task, whether it’s sweeping, or picking flowers, we are taking our focus off the future, which is what much anxiety is about.  

The second is the intentional focus on one task. This is always less stressful (and more productive) than task-switching constantly. Any parent who has tried to clean up the house will identify with this. I always like to start in our room (so I have a sanctuary to return to during the day), but it often gets sidetracked. 

Change the bed, find four more loads of washing to do. On the way back from the laundry discover the kitty litter has been overturned. Get out the vacuum cleaner and before you know it it’s bedtime and you feel frantic and disjointed, and have to put clean linen on the bed at 10pm. 

It takes discipline and intentional practice to finish one task before moving onto the next, but the results – a calmer mind – are worth it. 

The magic in the mundane moments

After a year of global panic, grief, and uncertainty, a focus on the present moment has become a crucial part of my life. 

I am soothed by the certainty of a repetitive task, picking flowers, folding washing or a long walk. One step in front of the other is all that matters in that moment. 

And it unconsciously eats away at my ego. This is life and I need (and want) to participate in it fully. It’s not always a joy to fold 3 loads of washing. But to discover it can be is life-altering!

There is magic in the mundane moments of life. A kind of soothing balm for our busy, fractured souls. But to access this magic takes practice.

As I ended my seasonal flower picking job, shoulders aching, I felt a sense of restoration, of calm. It was the perfect way to end this difficult year.

I bet there is something you do now that is repetitive and sometimes feels boring. Stick with it. Be present in it. And practice a little everyday. Engage fully in that task whether it’s folding washing or filling shelves at work.

There will be a season again for delving into deep, analytical work. But until then I will soak in the calm that comes with this kind of work. Simple, slow, and healing.

The mundane, monotonous, repetitive tasks of paid work and everyday life are not beneath me but an integral part of balancing me.

2 Comments

  1. Martha February 18, 2021 at 12:28 am

    Love this!

    1. emmy.l.scheib@gmail.com February 18, 2021 at 9:52 pm

      Thanks Martha 🙂