Balance
Writing more theoretical and philosophical parts of my work does not always feel balanced. It's a solitary activity. To create harmony, I try to spend more time with others and do more activities that are down-to-earth. In the social sciences, one often reads that humans are social beings (and it is also experientially true). While we are social, we are also singular, and also relate with non-human beings. While writing, I feel an intense need to spend time with non-human others, so I try to go for long walks often and take time to connect with non-humans.
Living without a washing machine and a vacuum cleaner offers plenty of opportunities to engage in humbling activities. Cleaning the floor by hand and handwashing my clothes is not an unpleasant chore. I feel gratitude for this opportunity. I have finally accumulated enough pieces of cotton string (it came with some products I bought) to make a long string for drying my clothes. I don't decorate my space at all, but scarves drying in the morning sunlight are aesthetically pleasing. It is interesting that in our society washing machines are desired to speed up the process of cleaning clothing, and dryers are often used to avoid having damp clothing taking up space. Before I started living in my current (rented) apartment, I had lived with washing machines and dryers my whole life. Those items were not something I decided I wanted to live with in my childhood. Rather, they were the norm. I never realised how much joy I was foregoing while living with those devices.
