[Happy Writing Marathon One-Line Post 1] What is something you can get so absorbed in that you lose track of time? ~Leveling Up~

Greetings

Hello,
thank you for stopping by.

To everyone who follows me,
thank you as always.

I am participating in Ken Honda's Happy Writing Marathon one-line post challenge.

◆◆◆

What is something you can get
so absorbed in that you lose track of time?

"Organizing things"

◆◆◆

I've been like that since I was a child.

"Weeding the garden" was a role that young O-chan would regularly perform at home.

It started as a chore from my mother, and before I knew it, it had become my role.

Even though it was an assigned role, looking back now, I think I did a great job for a child, weeding the garden of a detached house all by myself.

However, I wasn't just pulling weeds.

While weeding, I would find ant hills and battle swarms of ants (lol).

I would find mushroom-like plants I'd never seen before and get curious, wondering, "What is this?"

I would weed the garden while getting absorbed in touching the soil and discovering all sorts of things.

The memory of working hard to pull the weeds and being praised by my mother still remains vivid to this day.

Perhaps that childhood experience is still influencing who I am as an adult now.

And since getting married, I think my wife's influence has also been significant.

Cleaning the house.

I found myself able to do such things without any resistance.

--Something I tend to get absorbed in. That is, "tidying up".

I start working on the garden. The hedge has grown and it bothers me, so I think I'll prune it a little and start using the shears.
Then, I gradually get absorbed in it, thinking, "This part bothers me too," and "I'll tidy this up a bit more."

Before I know it, I can't stop halfway through. It's the same when I start pulling weeds.

Once I pull one, the weeds around it bother me. Once I pull those, the ones next to them bother me too.

In other words, the whole garden starts to bother me. In the end, I forget to rest and just keep pulling weeds silently.

Before I know it, two or three hours have passed. I look at the garden after I'm finished, my body drenched in sweat.

Feeling the pleasant breeze, I look at the tidied-up garden.

That is truly refreshing.

--The other day.

When I was in the bath, my eyes suddenly caught the tiles on the floor from the tub.

The part in the corner of the bathroom that had turned red with limescale really bothered me.

"Let me just scrub it a little."

Once I thought that and started scrubbing away, I couldn't stop (laughs).

"If I do this much, I'll do this part too," "If I do this, that part bothers me too," "Scrubbing not just the floor, but the faucet and walls too."

In the end, I gave the whole bathroom a major scrub while naked.

Before I knew it, what I thought was one or two minutes had turned into quite a long time.

I looked at the whole thing while warming my completely chilled body in the tub again.

It was a moment where I felt the joy of tidying up.

It feels so comfortable.

◆◆◆

I always feel it after I've tidied up.

Looking at a clean garden.
Looking at a clean bathroom.

For some reason, it makes me feel at ease.

"Yes, this feels good."

For some reason, I feel like my heart has been tidied up too.

When I see a tidy space, somehow the clouds in my own heart seem to clear away.

That's why I can get so absorbed that I lose track of time.

Thinking about it that way, for me, "tidying up" is not just a chore,

I think it is "time to tidy up my heart."

If I find somewhere that bothers me...

I'm sure,
I'll get absorbed in it again (laughs)

◆◆◆

Thank you for the wonderful prompt.