Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Grandma’s Advice
Thirty years ago when I was nine, I spent most of a summer with my old Swiss grandmother. There are many stories from that summer. I’m so glad I had the time with her and I learned an incredible number of things that have stuck with me to this day.
One thing she passed on to me stands out above all others though. Her mantra, which was, “If you see something that needs doing, do it. Now.”
For example, if she got out of the shower in the morning and noticed the towels were smelly, she’d immediately gather them and head for the laundry machine. On the way she’d see a plant was dry. She’d water it. Looking out the window while making coffee she’d notice the hummingbird feeder was empty, and so without hesitation, she’d mix up some sugar water and get the stepladder and refill it. On the porch she’d see a loose nail coming up, so she would put the stepladder away, get the hammer, pound the nail down, put the hammer away and then finish her cup of coffee, stopping to hang up the laundry which was now ready to dry on the line—why use a dryer burning up fossil fuel at at the electric company and paying for electricity when the sun was abundant and made the clothes smell nice. Etc.
Of course, she didn’t just live like this in her physical environment. She’d write letters to the editor. She’d organize neighbors. She’d even take homeless people home and then find them jobs and places to live.
She was cheerful and organized and thrifty. She was ethical and smart and involved. The only harsh words I ever heard spoken about her were from my mother, who was upset when grandma visited her when she was newly married and spent the visit doing things around the house, like putting contact paper in the bottom of the underwear drawer so that mom’s panties wouldn’t get caught on the rough wood. She was unstoppable when it came to leading by example.
So what’s the point of this rambling post? Two really. One is that modern life is sometimes simply so fast and so complicated and so busy that I don’t think a person could ever make it through a day by simply zen-like doing the most immediate project in need of attention. And second, that I realize that the self-defeating rationalization I’ve built into that last sentence is complete bullshit. If I worked as hard or as optimistically and with as much purpose as my grandmother, with her ethics, her work ethic, her organization and her first-generation immigrant energy, I’d be far happier, calmer and more successful.
On that note, I’m off to put some towels in the laundry, water the plants, pound down those loose nails, and spread smiles where I can. Thanks grandma.