In our never-ending quest to find ways to reduce my stress, thus hopefully reducing my headaches, we’ve decided to try a housekeeper.
We’ve had several housekeepers in the last few months. I have been uncomfortable every time. I hate knowing that I’m passing my dirty work on. I apologize repeatedly and explain my discomfort; sometimes I even tell them that I have an illness that’s exacerbated by overexertion.
Accordingly, I should have been embarrassed having J & D arrive on my doorstep. But no, I felt enveloped by love. Yep, you read that right; I felt love from the people I paid to clean my house. As soon as they walked in the door.
The “categories” someone would assign to these women, mother and daughter, are hippie and punk, respectively. Maybe because they wear their philosophies on their sleeves, I felt their caring. I think it’s more that they approach their work as a chance to make someone’s life, for whatever the client’s reasons are, a little easier.
With my pain levels and emotions in upheaval, J & D’s visit was an act of grace. Pure and simple.
A bank’s advertisement shows a woman, dressed in the exact stereotype of a hippie, saying that everyone should love one another. The commercial scoffs at this, telling you that at least you can get free checking.
Why is such love laughable? It can’t hurt to approach more people with a sense of caring. With my experience as an example, it seems that it could make living with illness a little easier.