Caretaking

I was please recently to see a Facebook friend's photos of her new urban space, which she had painstakingly decorated. She has created her own environment with simple recycled components and her own creative labor. A pleasant change from what I regularly perceive as an Ikea culture where everything is shiny new and readily disposable after being abused and neglected. 

Few people spend concentrated time creating and maintaining their own personal space. I have done a lot of house shopping over the years. I can say that about one home out of four is clean. One out of six may be decorated and maintained in a clean condition. What does this say about our culture, which is overtly hedonistic and materialistic? What is our culture's sense of worth?

Taking care of myself entails also taking care of my personal space.  The Japanese Buddhist expression, esho funi, means that a person and his/her environment are one. I subscribe to this concept fully. My experience as a professional nurse and health administrator have fortified my belief in this concept. Properly maintained environments promote positive outcomes.

The caretaking I refer to is not simply cosmetic. Martha Stewart's environments certainly reflect her persona, for example. They are cosmetically perfect, but cold and impersonal. Taking care of myself and my environment is a process with its own worth. The result is less important than the process. By consciously living healthily, creatively and prudently every day, I am practicing well being. If I am also practicing mindfulness and compassion, then this will develop in my environment as well.

The effort of establishing this practice may be initially daunting for many. Pulling away from mindless chaos requires intentional effort. It requires an honest appraisal of a person's true life condition. This can be painful and more easily ignored or denied. The return on the effort, however, is great.