Gaston Bachelard on the Meditative Magic of Housework | Hacker News Reader

Gaston Bachelard on the Meditative Magic of Housework

brainpickings.org

As a remote worker, my obstacles, both technical and personal, are often brought to resolution through washing the dishes, or some similar task.

Our ability as humans to take a problem and insert space between it's demands for attention and the furnishing of such attention is one of our most powerful gifts. Housework is a wonderful and perpetually available tool for this.

I'm convinced that the better or experienced I get at programming, the more unlikely it is that I'll solve a difficult challenge while actually programming. Taking a quick shower, walking around the block, laying down for 10-15 minutes, or scrubbing a sink full of dishes often leads me to a revelation.

I'm a big proponent of brainstorming while walking. If I hit a mental block while programming, writing, or doing some other sort of critical thinking/creative exercise, I'll just drop everything and go on a 30 minute stroll. I'll either end up solving my problem or getting some exercise, so either outcome is good.

On the other hand, I have a mathematician friend who's a big proponent of shower brainstorming. We still give him crap for the day when he was working on a proof and took a two hour shower.

It's about sensory fuzzing. Either masking them or overexposing them. An armchair in the closet under the stairs in the dark with a loud ceiling exhaust should be a reasonable substitute and save a lot of water.

It's like "flip a coin to decide a problem - while it's in the air you'll know how you want it to land".

My college coworker just called it the "coprocessor" and said the only way to engage the coprocessor was copious amounts of mario kart.

I lived in a large new england textile mill building while I was in college, with well over a mile of hallways over its five floors. I could have walked to other states, doing laps at 1AM while figuring out computer science homeworks in the back of my head.

Inevitable Alan Watts quote: "Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling the potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."

"Have you finished your meal? Then go and wash your bowl."

"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

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