Day 22 - Privilege of being a host

Jog - done.

Yet another interesting insight I had.

Yesterday there was a small function at home and we had invited few guests. My brother was tidying up the place. I looked at it and thought 'Here it comes again! Some people will come and we have to clean up our house to show them how clean it is'! For me, earlier, this was not okay. My thinking was that why should we make any changes just because someone is coming; why can't we just let me see the house in the same condition in which we live? Doing any such work was a burden - a compulsive thing to look good in front of guests; a show off. At the same time it was not okay to show them the untidy side of it too. It was kind of a dilemma. So I used to clean up /tidy up things cursing myself and at times those people who have organized the event/function - and it used to be invariably my mother :)

Yesterday suddenly, something struck me. I realized that if I go to someone's house I want to see neat and tidy place - have a pleasant experience, as my friend called it. I also saw that the guests are being so generous in accepting our invitation and coming to our house. I am the privileged one to have them in my house. And I want to respect them and their time. One of the ways is by making their visit a pleasant one. And this is the least I can do to them. So tidying up the house is not to cover up my untidy house but a mark of my respect and an action toward welcoming them.

The minute I saw it the whole experience around tidying up the house transformed. It was no more a burden. There was so much freedom. I experienced choice - in its true sense. It was something I wanted to do. So I loved doing it.

This insight may not be anything new for many people. I was talking to a friend and she told me that she always thought it this way and that this is the way society works. Then I thought 'oh! the insight I had was no big deal then. It doesn't make sense writing this in my blog. It just shows that I am slow in understanding things in life. Let me not write it'. Then I realized that this was a WWTT attack. And I wrote this :)

And just now I realized that the thought that I am a the privileged one to receive the guest also transformed my listening toward inviting guests. It's no more a social thing. I can see than it's clear expression of I acknowledging them and having them share the joy I am experiencing. I am glad I wrote this blog.