I take 3 deep breathes.

I stop the world and leave only the experience of washing dishes ahead.

I take the sponge. I squeeze it. I feel its texture. I check that it is not too worn out. If it is, I say “Hasta Luego” and replace it with new one.

I turn on the water. I wait for it to get warm. I play around with temperature a bit. I get destructed with thoughts about work. OOOOOOOOOOuch, I get burned. Lower temperature quick! I go back to breathing. 1… 2… 3… I am back into virtual reality of washing dishes. (Or is it real, not sure any more).

The temperature is just right. I enjoy the feeling of warm perfect water going over my hands for few moments. Forget about washing dishes, this is awesome. I take few moments more. Time to get on with it.

I take the first dish. I take a large plate in my left hand. I do a couple of circles to remove the main dirt. I remember Karate Kid where Daniel-san was doing circles washing Mr. Miagi’s car. I slowly return to the “Current” with the help of the breath. Now I put a bit of liquid soap on the sponge. It smells like grapefruits, but a bit chemical. What a great smell. It is probably made of some magic chemical concoction, but still, the mind is easy to trick.

I put a bit more pressure on wiping motions and plate is getting cleaner and cleaner. I check for any remaining smudges. I see a couple. They don’t make me angry, they just are and so am I. I attack with the sponge and remove them all with one powerful swipe. I feel like screaming out “hadouken” which is what Ryu screams out when performing a special move in Street Fighter, but my wife is not far away, so I just manage a little whimper to satisfy my urge and move on to the next plate.

After a couple of plates I feel myself falling into rhythm. I am fully in the act of washing dishes. Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and any other reality is all great, but real Reality is soooo much better. My mind is clear, my breath is pure and rhythmical. My body is singing and dancing with sponge and dishes as its props.

Oh no. I am out of dishes. But such is life. For a moment I think of redoing clean dishes again, just to keep the vibe going. No, I am not really thinking that… As great as it is, there will always be dirty dishes tomorrow.

I feel refreshed and cleansed. Somehow I have more energy then before. I smile and look for something to dive into next.