Home Improvement as Therapy

November 10, 2008 

What do you do when you are down and out - on one of those bad days? Go out and have a drink or lounge on the couch to watch your favorite movie for a zillionth time? Go for a drive or call one of your best pals and cry your heart out? Strangely, in the past I did none of these on my not-in-the-mood days. I just went into a shell and kept to myself - doing best what I did which was doing nothing. Of late, I’ve found the secret that burns my negative energy and thoughts in a flash actually making me feel good at the end of it.

The demands of being a stay-at-home mother for two years now, not having a real job that requires me to step out of home and have a life, the lack of a social circle, and a husband who will be away for an year does take its toll at times. After moving to Bangalore to our own apartment, I’ve found peace in the most unusual thing - home improvement/maintenance. Yes, you heard it right! Before you read between the lines, I do have a maid who does most of the cleaning but I find immense pleasure in dusting the windows, scrubbing the floors, cleaning the glass surfaces, shining the wooden artifacts, reusing old curtain to make new cushion covers, and developing an indoor flower garden. I know this is called domesticity; but I’ve never been the true house-wife - not the born kind. I still cook dishes from recipe books. If you are imagining our home to be picture-perfect that you’d be scared to sit on the couch or think twice before stepping your feet on the floor, it’s far from it. The house was rented for three years, so the floor’s no longer the reflecting surface it once used to be; the glaze of the tiles in the bathrooms is lost but we’ll soon get there.

This is a great therapy as it is physical and burns a lot of calories. It is also a job that requires no thinking - very mindless and monotonous in many ways which appeals me at times for a change! Here, I leave you with images of the first dhania (read: coriander) sprout that showed up. LG’s formula tin has been reused to be filled up with mud and dhania seeds, old curtain cut into cushion covers, and new plants waiting to be re-potted :

Plants

Curtains made into cushions

Repot plants

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Comments

2 Responses to “Home Improvement as Therapy”

  1. Vaz on November 10th, 2008 12:32 pm

    Hey Lakshmi,

    You wunt believe, I do the same when I am alone in the house and my hubby is in office on weekends, though nothing compared to your separation duration. I try to make best out of waste, but I do get an immense satisfaction doing things.Good Job :) Keep it up.

    ~Cheers
    Vaz

    Maybe you should share a few recycling tips!

  2. neeti on November 13th, 2008 1:14 pm

    Hey Lakshmi

    No wonder this blog is my favorite :)
    This particular writeup, it just feels as if you are penning what my feelings/thoughts are.
    whether its about cooking from recipe book or not being naturally-housewife kinds or the immense satisfaction that i get from home maintenance…You touch exactly the same cord!!!

    Me: Thank you. I’m glad we strike a chord somewhere. Interestingly, our career trajectories were very similar too until recently :)

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