Sunday, March 8, 2009

Grandest of Ironing Dreams

I am ironing tonight, once again, and am taking this opportunity to transform the mundane into the extraordinary.

From the time of the first clothing, there were wrinkles. Social conditioning busied itself convincing us that wrinkles were *baaaad* and that they had to straighten up and fly straight. But how was this to be done? Why, the hot iron of course. But, oh! How tedious.

Fast forward to 1882 and the invention of the electric iron by Henry W. Seeley, which weighed almost 15 pounds (6.8 kg). Yes, things have changed, but how we still lament the need to iron.

But, is it the ironing we lament and resent as part of our weekly routine, or is it merely the lack of time to dedicate to this, a task that, in it's essence, reminds us of all we we have accomplished and all we are yet to achieve?

When you think about it, ironing can be extremely rewarding. It's rewards are immediately realised with the smoothing of those dastardly wrinkles that they may be forever banished - or at least until the next wash - unlike so many of our other daily chores. Clothing looks, feels and even smells wonderful as soon as it is ironed, and the accumulation of articles, replete in their crisp spender, is like a ream of fresh A4 pages on which we may chronicle the entirety of our present existence based on our heritage or the dreams that are still nagging for fulfillment in our lives. Yes, ironing is all that, yet we continue to insist that it is a chore.

And such is the way with so many things that we are now old and wise enough to revel in the joy of but yet we continue to consider them to be chores. Yes, we have to do them, repeatedly, week in, week out, but they are as rewarding as we make them. Having an excuse to plonk in front of the telly, albeit with an ironing board in between ourselves and the source of our pleasure, and stay put till then end of our selected televisual feast, is a treat that we still seem to struggle to acknowledge.

Ironing is not our enemy. Ironing is an ally that good time management will help us to reap the greatest rewards from. So, friends, grab your ironing boards and unite. We have the power to make the mundane extraordinary and the only thing standing in our way is a false sense of what we continue to believe that reality *should* be. Enjoy the results of your labour and know that in this isolated task we unite, members of a community that fervently believes that wrinkles are *baaaad* and that we, the lone rangers of the laundry, can rebel against in our daily adventures in what is the lives we lead despite our grandest of dreams.

5 comments:

Michelle said...

Nope. Not buying it :)

Hippy Witch said...

That is a great way to encourage yourself to tolerate this dastardly chore, if it works for you great. But I must say, Im with Michelle. HAHAHA

Melora said...

Gotta laugh I had that thought yesterday and ironed this morning lol....the Wendy Way of Looking at Life

Natalie said...

I find ironing a source of meditation because it is just so Goddamn boring! Works for me though.

Good post, your writing is fabulous!

Watch this space....... :D

Anonymous said...

I think you need to reduce the Valium, Wendy.