Brandyisms: Ironing

I love ironing. I love it so much that even though I do not have to, I do it almost every day. I even do it on vacation.

I have a ritual when it comes to ironing. I pull out my board and smooth down the fabric. I then untwist the cord for the iron, fill it with fresh filtered water and a splash of linen spray then plug it in and set it for the proper temperature. Then the fun part: I iron the clothing for the day. Most often it is just my husband's work clothing and maybe a shirt of mine and my son's. It takes a mere 5-10 minutes of my day but it's enough to center myself for the rest of that day.

You see, I use the time I spend ironing to meditate. With each pass of the iron over the clothing I envision any anger, frustration and doubt coming out with the wrinkles. I breathe deeply and concentrate on nothing but the wrinkles in the clothing and in my head and heart coming out.Sometimes I can work out only one issue. Other times it seems as though I am working out as many issues as I am wrinkles.

As I lay out the clothing for the day, I usually find myself smiling and feeling much better. As I put away my iron and board, I also put away negative feelings for the day. They can be worked out tomorrow, just like the wrinkles in the clothes.