I recently wrote a guest blog post for my Twitter friend Jo Belfield on the subject of photography, (Jo creates beautiful photos for a living).
I believe that having your favourite photos on display in your home can be a great antidote to the housework blues.
So, here’s the blog post again in case you didn’t catch it:
I recently embarked upon a full day of housework.
This is not something I do very often. Not because I don’t enjoy a clean and tidy home – I do, I love it. However, I find that Great Big Cleaning Efforts mess with my head. There’s a very real danger that all the mindless domestic activity will result in a head-space of frustration, despair or low-level fury. (Or on a bad day, all three.) Admittedly there are far worse ordeals to be facing, but I don’t think I’m alone in occasionally feeling the strain of home and family maintenance.
No, I am not the domestic type. Though I love being at home, (I include pottering on my list of hobbies) and I cherish being around my family, I am not a natural-born homemaker. For me, extended bouts of cleaning and tidying can lead to serious housework blues.
So unsurprisingly, on the day in question, my mood was slipping as I picked up the umpteenth abandoned sock. (For some reason, in my house there will be, at all times, a lone sock at large, quite often where you’d least expect it (on top of the TV, the fridge door handle…) and virtually never where you would hope (the vicinity of a laundry basket.)
Resigned to my fate, I scooped up the offending footwear with a weary sigh, mumbling darkly about it’s owner. That’s when I caught sight of my laptop. The lid was open and had gone into screen-saving mode, which displays my family photos at random. I was greeted by the happy, smiling face of Sock Owner.
My bad mood vanished in an instant. I smiled and actually felt my shoulders drop as I relaxed. This photographic reality check reminded of what was truly important in my life: my family, the people I love – not the work that comes with them. I immediately softened and forgave the reckless sock-slinging, feeling far less aggrieved with my lot.
That single picture was a perfectly-timed reminder of why I have such stuff to deal with – because I am blessed with a family. And even though the endless laundry, cooking, cleaning, tidying etc… does sometimes get me down, I wouldn’t have it any other way. (Though I do look forward to bare-feet weather…)
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As always, I’d love to hear what you think!
Danielle
PS There’s a whole chapter devoted to this subject in my book Housework Blues – A Survival Guide and if you haven’t already grabbed yourself a copy, you can sign up for free sample chapters here.
