#whereitallstarted

“I just can’t believe my eyes”, she said being extremely startled by what stood in front of her.

Early in the morning, he blindfolded her and drove her to this place what was a 10 hour drive.

15 years ago, it was a massive earthquake that not only took away their house but her husband and his father. Having no insurance at that time didn’t help either. Worst of all being that it was her birthday the day before and next day they lost almost everything.

Back to square one, down and out with no money and nobody to help, it was a nightmare that lasted a few years. No food for days, sleepless nights and time so dark that she couldn’t even see a future for her little boy. From everything to nothing, from satisfied and wishful to being lost it was just unfathomable.

Being introduced to drugs and alcohol by some other homeless strangers, it lead her to become a drug addict and alcoholic and to an extent that she would even steal for it. Drugs and alcohol seemed like friends that would help her forget the pain and the world she was living in.

However, it was one day that her little boy ran into a car while playing on the road and she was laying by the road with hardly any direction or energy to be able to help him while he laid in a pool of blood. Thanks to the people who admitted him to the hospital and brought her to the hospital that she came face to face with the reality of what had happened.

That was a turning point, drugs and alcohol were left far behind and this incident had brought her back to senses with a sense of determination. She now struggled day and night, working multiple and all kind of jobs to make him go to school and complete his education.

Everything had added up to make him an independent and self-sustaining individual. Now, he had been living with his mother and both had acknowledged their past, while concentrating on the present. He was differently-abled and he had known about how it all happened and instead of blaming his mother he chose to respect her for the fact that she had stood by him all his life and made him what he was.

He had bought the plot where their old house was and built a new one.

Washing dishes. Not everyone’s favourite house chore. In fact, in the developed Canadian society that I grew up in, it was not uncommon for individuals and families to bypass this dreaded activity all together via a machine called a “dishwasher”. Wild, I know! Yes, I was fortunate or unfortunate, depending on your values and opinions, to have grown up in a household equipped with sed dishwashing device. I recall even being pissed off when I was instructed to wash the dishes after large family dinners. But, fast forward some years, throughout my other living situations in university and during periods of living on my own, while renting, and it became very rare that having a dishwasher was a thing.In retrospect, I now see it more as a luxury. In fact, aside from visits or periods of being at home, I have lived “dishwasher- free” since 2011. Actually, that’s not completely true. The first apartment that I rented this year in Montreal was excessively decked out (and overpriced, I might add), and did have a dishwasher installed. That being said, I used it only to do a large load after a baking session in my kitchen. 

Why the hell am I sharing this with you? I am getting there… 

In the past 7-and-a-half-ish years of relying on my own two hands to clean my dirty plates, I have come to appreciate washing dishes, or perhaps more accurately, the time that I spend washing dishes, and where my mind goes while I am doing the washing. It has been exactly what I have needed on so many different occasions of my life, in relationships and during moments of self-reflection and self-analysis. 

Firstly, have you noticed that it is a GREAT way to be distracted during an argument? Being “busy” doing dishes allow for two-way communication without the intensity of face-to-face confrontation. It serves as a buffer for those hard-to-have conversations. I have used it in this way with friends, family, boyfriends and the like. GLORIOUS. Because of dishwashing as this “buffer,” I also find that I am able to communicate more clearly while doing dishes. It’s a way to be engaged in a conversation but be slightly ‘checked out’. I wonder if I am alone in this? I ask you to pay attention the next time you are doing the dishes, and what kind of freedom it allows you from whatever emotional or mental engagement that you have going on. It’s really quite fascinating.

Secondly, it provides you with time, where you don’t “have to” or just simply can’t do anything else that takes up your mental energy, such as being on your phone, checking emails, etc. Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely value these activities and their importance in today’s world. It’s just that we don’t often have a reason or excuse as to why we are not connected to one of our many digital devices. Washing dishes make it near impossible. From my experience, technology and water don’t mix too well. It is what we do mentally, or where our minds wander during this time that, for some of us, myself included, is invaluable. Now, I know very well that not everyone needs this “quiet time” to think or brainstorm, but many introverts do. Although I don’t define myself strictly as an introvert, the way in which I come up with my best and most brilliant ideas  is definitely during this quiet time. It can be found while doing dishes, walking from point A to point B, being a passenger in a vehicle, etc. 

The story of Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu Maldives began two decades ago, when a dedicated team made the wildest, island dreams come true.