Buddhism with family and messy house and pets,...

AMH

I just got back from vacation where everything was clean. Like the house my parents rented for us all to meet at and my grandmothers house we stayed at one night and the hotel I had for the trip back. And then I came home and spent 4 hours cleaning the kitchen and going to the store, sigh. I picked a few things to go to goodwill (the kids are with grandparents for a few days) but it seems that this house and life is not gonna come close to my wonderfully peaceful Buddhist imagination. I feel that extreme simple living (at least compared to the general population) is very supportive of practice, but to get there I spend most of my time trying to get clean enough to find my cushion! LOL, Well I don't really have a question here except how does everyone else see the part where we keep it simple, own less crap and maybe even keep it clean as part of their Buddhist practice.

Gui

When cleaning, just clean.

kayte

@AHeerdt- It can be difficult when sharing a living space with others. Perhaps you could set aside a small sanctuary for yourself in your home. I don't know how much space you have available, but it would be a reasonable request for others to respect your space. That way, you can do your best to keep up cleaning the shared living space and have a bit set aside that gives you peace. Are the other members old enough to be responsible for their own things? It's good training for children to take responsibility, have awareness of others' feelings and to respect other people's space.

AMH

Ah yes, I work at just cleaning. I will be honest about my struggles. I often have to stop and make a list of everything else because if I don't I have a hard time focusing on what I am doing cleaning knowing that I tend to seriously forget the rest of what needs to be done.

My children are teenagers and so I did expect a lot more from them as far as effort in the house at this age. They really do express that they like the house clean but we are struggling with that being more about what they do instead of pointing out what their siblings do. That is pretty normal for kids this age. One of our complications is that everyone has some degree of mental illness in the family so nothing is as simple as even regular teenagers (not that regular ones sound like a simple task anyway). They are very good at respectting my space and my need to sleep and even meditate, but i am finding it harder in a very small space to deal with common areas being messy. There really is very little room to live how we used to. The back porch has all the gear for lawn and home care for a large house and the storage unit has boxes of papers that I keep trying to get rid of. My realtor aunt assures me I cannot get rid of some of it yet, other things I want to keep as part of my career (I have children's books all leveled and organized along with everything to set up a classroom. I have not given up on a teaching job yet).

Okay another long winded deal huh! basically whenever I talk about this in groups I get a lot of feedback about how I can be firmer with the kids or set expectations or let go of expectations, but meanwhile I am just living it.

Mr_Serenity

I do most of the cleaning in my apartment myself. If I didn't clean as much as I do the place would be a hoarding ground for clutter. When I'm cleaning obviously four hands are are better than two. So I just ask nicely if they could help me out with what I'm doing. If they don't come help me right away I don't say anything and just continue on my own, and then eventually they usually come help me. So my effort of starting to clean turns out inspiring others to help me. I just do it for myself, rather than worrying about anyone else doing it. Because it is better energy to be around less clutter.

Cloud

At a certain point in my own practice, I began to give away and sell (very cheaply) most of my belongings including my TV and game systems, thinking that my practice would only begin sincerely if I dedicated myself to it exclusively. For just a moment, it seemed the right decision... but when the next moment came around, it was clear that all of the "clutter" and attachments were not what I possessed of worldly things, but what I held onto within my own mind as my possessions and part of my life; my desires, my hopes and dreams, my perspective on everything.

Tackle the mind; conquer the world.

AMH

Ahh yes, it is the attachment more than the stuff always. however meanwhile I just have waaay more stuff again. When you really really start paring down you see how much time stuff takes and then you can evaluate. I know others would really choose different things than I would, however the stuff isn't so bad as the feeling you have to have it.

I think if you plopped someone in my life overnight they would scream and run, so if hauling another half of what I own to goodwill makes this deal work than ok!