Sorting Potatoes and Thoughts

I volunteered at my local foodbank this week, and it was a good experience. I am a huge fan of what foodbanks do, and I can't abide the thought of hungry kids anywhere. I've been a financial donor for a long time, but this was my first experience donating time.

It was really fun and really boring, all at the same time. The task was to sort ginormous piles of potatoes into 3-lb bags. 

• cut the big bag
• open small bag
• put 3-ish pounds of potatoes in small bag using a scale
• tie small bag
• toss small bag into a huge crate thing
• and repeat as much as you can for the duration of the shift

Here are some things that came to me while I risked repetitive motion injury:

• Wow, this 80s/90s music mix is loud and fun
• It's important to have a mindset and intention, even with simple tasks and experiences - what WAS my mindset going into this? And what is it now?
• This is rather meditative, and a great way to practice what I learned in "10% Happier" which I read recently
• I'm really enjoying doing something physical
• Wait, no. Check that. My lats are screaming now that I've been doing this an hour. But... why just my lats?
• Each potato I sort, each bag I toss into the pile is filled with my warmest wishes for a tasty meal and a happy tummy (and I think about my memories of daily family dinners growing up)
• I'm overflowing with gratitude toward the people who work at the foodbank and the fact that I am in a position not to need this service
• I really want mashed potatoes tonight
• That crew of developmentally disabled folks over there are so happy to be here - that's really fun to watch
• I wonder if they ever have to kick anyone out for being a jerk
• I completely misjudged that young man next to me. He is NOT doing mandatory service hours. In fact, he is a hard-working kid of an immigrant family, studying to be an EMT, active in his church, and like a third parent to his very sweet-sounding younger sister in 3rd grade. I'm a huge idiot to have made any assumptions about his beany and baggy shorts. He's even wearing hilarious Sponge Bob socks. Talking with him has been the highlight of my time here.

A friend of mine mentioned to me recently "you seem to be the type of person who gets more out of your work than it takes." I really resonated with that when I heard it, and I kept thinking about it over and over and over again in the middle of potato dirt dust and sweat. And a very simple thing enables that dynamic: being present and curious. Being insanely present to the moment, the movement, the monotony. To the thoughts that come and go, the ideas and flare and fade. I think mindfulness and work go hand in hand, and so much joy can be had if we spend a tiny bit more time being present.

Yeah, I totally got more out of that shift than it took from me. And I am so going back there again to get more.