washing dishes

I recently visited my good friend and priest Father J. I don't recall how the subject of washing the dishes came up, but Fr. J made a wise suggestion:

Do them by hand.

Only use the machine for parties.

I have begun to do this in my own life. And you know what? It's awesome! I actually enjoy washing the dishes by hand. I finish washing the dishes and I say, "There must be more dirty dishes somewhere!"

I've been doing my fiance's dishes every night. I even did my roommate's dishes just now. He wasn't even home! (Yeah dude, if you're reading this, that was me.)

I just feel a greater sense of accomplishment when I wash the dishes by hand. Screw machines! I'm about to get married and start my own family. I ought to get used to working with my hands.

Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh actually wrote about the importance of washing the dishes:

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance this might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality. I'm being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first way is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second way is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes.

If while we are washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as they were a nuisance, then we are not 'washing the dishes to wash to wash the dishes.' What's more we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes....If we can't washes the dishes, chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either.

In other words, enjoy every moment, no matter how mundane it might seem. Washing the dishes by hand is great practice for this.

Apparently there are some naybobs out there who say washing the dishes by hand wastes water. Pish posh, I say! There are ways to save water when washing dishes by hand, and even among the enviros, the question is not completely settled. Eco-friendly ways of handwashing dishes would consist basically of running the water only when you are rinsing the dish. Simple enough.

At any rate, I have thoroughly enjoyed the new practice and highly recommend it to anyone who hates loading and unloading the machine. Wash, rinse, put away, done!