Waking up before the sun rises to grind coffee, prepare the family breakfast and meditate while doing repetitive tasks such as scrubbing the bath, or cleaning the sink. This is what I do sometimes. I have to say, I love doing that. I clean my home, myself, with love and respect. During these moments, I welcome the good spirits, I erase the past by cleaning what’s left out of yesterday’s plates. While I clean, I meditate. I clean my own home because it grounds me.

My friend Will once told me a tale when returning from a long journey to India, he said people wake up before the sun to clean and prepare for Lakshmi’s visit. Lakshmi enters only the homes that were cleaned for her passage.

I like to remember that when I wake up before everyone, clean and prepare for Lakshmi to visit.

This week has been particularly difficult: a rat broke into my kitchen, we spent hours securing the walls, and making sure there was no danger. Last night we were awaken by a massive leak coming from our neighbours upstairs straight into our bed. “Welcome to New York” is what our landlord told us when we told them we are being invaded by flies due to a dead rat in the walls. Our friends laughed and nodded, “Welcome to New York”, they said.

I still wake up and clean. With my own hands and watch my red nail polish chip as I scrub.

Today I desperately needed Lakshmi to visit us. We woke up tired and broken from all of the predicaments we went through this week. My husband is also trying to heal from a food allergy he caught this week end.

So I woke up. And I cleaned. And when the sun came in through the windows and I felt better. Today is going to be great.

As I was cleaning, my mind was beginning to open and ideas started to visit me. I had to stop for a few minutes just to write them down.

And I feel grateful.

In arabic there is a saying that burdens happen to you because you are able to deal with them. And with surprise I find myself pretty zen today despite this insane week. I find myself closer to Earth for some reason.