Jan 29, 2021
“Run the dishwasher twice” and other ways to break the rules
We all have unspoken “rules” we’ve internalized about the world and ourselves. What happens when we start to question them?
Before you read on, pause and ask yourself this question:
Do you have to pre-rinse dishes?
You know, the clean-before-the-clean, where you wash the plates before loading them in the dishwasher; the pre-rinse rinse.
There are only 2 kinds of responses to this question:
- Yes. Because we live in a society.
- No… That’s what a dishwasher is for! How is this even a question?
The answer is, of course, it depends on the dishwasher. But ask this same question in a room of adults, and it’ll split the room 50/50. One group staunchly believing that pre-rinsing is a foregone conclusion, the other living their best, carefree (if at times a little crusty) lives.
But, read on, because we’re here to tell you, there is a third option…
Run the dishwasher twice.
You heard us. Run. The dishwasher. Twice.
Feeling wrung out? Can’t hype yourself up for the pre-rinse? Run the dishwasher twice. Spend four hours cooking a meal and have a ton of extra dishes? Run the dishwasher twice. Hell, run it three times!
Listen, sometimes rules are helpful. They help us navigate the world and build acquired knowledge through generations. But, sometimes these unspoken “rules” can keep us from finding creative solutions that help us meet the moment wherever we are right now.
Where do these “dishwasher” rules come from?
They might be things our parents told us, our teachers told us, or things we internalized. They might be taken out of a different or outdated context, or extrapolated from one bad experience.
They are the invisible, unexamined ‘norms’ we believe about ourselves and the world; the ones we may not even acknowledge. Things like:
“I’m not creative.”
“I don’t know how to play.”
“Artists don’t have real jobs.”
“Adults don’t skip.”
“I have to pre-rinse the dishes”
And, when we allow ourselves to question them, we may find that they no longer serve us.
Think about your own dishwasher rules
Are they true? Or are they things you’ve simply accepted? What would happen if you questioned them? What would happen if you ran the dishwasher twice?
