Clean Toilet Challenge Fall 2023 Update
Oct. 9th, 2023 01:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kimberlysteele
It's time to check in on the Clean Toilet Challenge! Since slightly before the 2023 Spring Solstice, I have been cleaning my toilet every day. In my house, we are blessed with two toilets -- my husband built our second half-bathroom in 2021 -- and though I don't clean that toilet as frequently, it has been well-maintained with a less-rigorous cleaning schedule. I have also deep-cleaned two of my parents' toilets and continued to keep them clean whenever I am there, which is about 2-3x per week.
As for money and health luck, I believe I have personally experienced a great deal of both with some of the money luck spilling over to my husband despite the fact I am the only one cleaning the toilets. I have seen a big increase in demand in my music teaching business; so much that I cannot accept all the prospective students that reach out to me. Overall, my statistics are better, with my self-scheduled private lessons up 7 percent from last year. I have also added work at a music school, which has boosted my income considerably. I am simply more comfortable than I was at the beginning of the year before I started the Clean Toilet Challenge. I'm still of an income level where even if I wanted to travel by plane or take hotel vacations (I don't) I could not afford to do it, however, I am able to afford to eat take-out or restaurant food up to 3x a week. This was simply not true of last year. But that's not all. My husband recently got a raise and a better employment situation. He is making 10$ more an hour, which is extremely significant in our world. I believe that keeping the toilets clean has brought good fortune.
For cleaning the toilet, I suggest putting a mixture of white vinegar and water (3 parts water, 1 part vinegar, or half and half) and cleaning the toilet top to bottom with a paper towel. Finish by scrubbing the inside of the bowl with a toilet brush. To initially deep clean a toilet, you may need a wire brush to excavate old rust scale and other nastiness. If the toilet seat is wrecked or cracked, you can buy a replacement. Once the toilet is deep cleaned, daily cleaning will most likely keep in in check. I always finish by thanking the toilet: "Toilet toilet handling waste, thank you for your saving grace."
Has keeping your toilet clean changed anything? I would love to hear your story in comments.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-09 10:32 pm (UTC)I'm doing this "challenge", mostly because it just seemed "right" at the time you proposed it, and because I like the idea of the will training it offers. I've been cleaning my toilet every day, similarly to you (one deep clean that was rather ick, including removing the seat entirely and getting around and under the seat bolts, but now it's just a 1:3ish vinegar:water solution spritz and a wipe-down), since well before the challenge officially started (I think back when the idea of the Japanese God of the Toilet was first brought up). I haven't done it with the intention of getting more wealthy, but mostly just showing up and doing the work with a good attitude. Prior to the challenge I had cleaned my toilet thoroughly once a week, with the occasional extra swish if it needed it during the week.
So far I haven't seen any major change in either my finances nor my fortunes, but I have been grateful that they've remained steady. I seem to get a little more in my paycheque, but I'm not sure if that's just because they've rejiggered the tax math for next year or what. The jury's still out on whether or not a new romantic relationship is going to be on the net positive side or not, but it seems to be a pleasant addition to my life during the challenge, at least so far, though not an unalloyed positive. And I've made a personal intention to learn a new instrument starting this autumn, which I consider a positive but definitely wasn't to my wallet. :) Overall, though, I would say that between the instrument decision and a few other pleasant opportunities, this autumn is looking brighter than last year's by comparison, if only in small (but meaningful) ways.
On the negative side, though, I did miss out on a few great opportunities in August/September that I found out about only after the fact. And they sort of balance things out a bit, as they were really good ones. No complaints whatsoever, I mention these simply to avoid confirmation bias.
I do wonder if explicit intention matters. Looking forward to reading other updates for comparison!
Cheers, V.O.G
no subject
Date: 2023-10-10 03:48 pm (UTC)I know I sound like a broken record with this quip, but long ago I realized health is literally wealth. A $400 bottle of champagne might as well be warm piss if you can only drink it painfully through a straw with the help of your live-in nurse aide, yet so many people are hell bent on squandering their health on garbage food, sedentary lifestyles, and risky injections, you'd never know they valued their health. That said, those who are healthy who take it for granted, who think they haven't enjoyed a great deal of luck, or who imagine they are exempt from Apollo's Law of Moderation when it comes to maintaining health are in for a banquet of consequences.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-10 01:47 am (UTC)I feel like intent probably matters here, but for science: I tried cleaning the toilet each day at the beginning of the challenge, and then I broke my foot and couldn't manage it for six weeks. oof. Our finances are the same as always: we have enough.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-10 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-10 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 03:32 pm (UTC)I think so
Date: 2023-10-10 02:10 am (UTC)Things are going better. I now have replacement batteries for my solar system (broke in the czu fire 3 years ago); The charlatan wood milling guy in a moment of weakness agreed his product might be bad and had a worker come pick it up, which means he eventually refunded me in the nick of time so I didnt need to small claims court; I found a person to rebuild my barn ( euphamism for an outbuilding of a few hundred sq ft), I was beginning to think the project was cursed so many have pulled out or tried to ask for too much to do it. I have a volunteer cutting and splitting my storm felled ancient oak tree, and he decided he needs to actually leave me a few cords too. Other things arent new, but are continuing/ doing better, the free twice a month accupunture has put me in a rotation with a teacher ( I am a class guinea pig/teaching object at the chinese med college) who seems to be "getting" what places in me need unblocking or whatever; I have dared to ask for help and received it to do a few important things too heavy for me rather than having to hire help, which is hard to get even if I could afford it. I would say altogether, not counting accupuncture, about $16k of doing better ? Which realy just means a better quality of life as I would not have spent that as I am low income, I would have had to do without refrigeration in the increasing power outages, had a large tree just laying there, not felt as well, still had furniture in the bathroom ( or paid a few hundred) etc...
Re: I think so
Date: 2023-10-10 03:30 pm (UTC)At any rate, I hope things continue to look up for you and thank you ever so much for the feedback.
Re: I think so
Date: 2023-10-10 04:53 pm (UTC)Your summary sounds about right. When I say I am cleaning it with intention. I dont ask for anything at all, so of course that is not what I mean. I just have the intention that I am keeping this area scrubbed and clean ? Hard to explain.
Re: I think so
Date: 2023-10-11 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-10 10:04 pm (UTC)"...this resembles that which the blessed Evagrius spake, saying, 'As it is not the material foods themselves which nourish the body, but the power which is in them, so it is not matters themselves which make the soul to grow, but the power of discernment which comes from them.' And he also said, 'As the feeding, and health, and growth of the body do not come through the actual materials of our foods, for these are cast out of the body in the draught, but from the hidden power which is in them, so also the nourishment and the growth of the soul take place through the fear of God...' "
Evagrius doesn't say "etheric nutrition", but distinguishing between the material of foods and the "hidden power which is in them" sounds a lot like it, doesn't it? I love how, typically, this comes up as an aside remark. The passage is about something else entirely and no further explanation is given of Evagrius' views on the power in food-- it reads like one of those things that everybody knows already so it's not worth mentioning, any more than you talk about water being wet or rocks being unyielding. So thoroughly assumed, that it's being used as a metaphor for something else.
But here we are trying to recover that common knowledge in the 21st century ;)
no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 03:52 pm (UTC)Evagrius doesn't say "etheric nutrition", but distinguishing between the material of foods and the "hidden power which is in them" sounds a lot like it, doesn't it?
It certainly does. Plus it does seem he is implying it is common knowledge. Hippocrates said let food be thy medicine... ugh, how far we have fallen from that! I don't trust most medical professionals as far as I can throw them because they don't understand how important food is in the slightest! Long ago, I was expounding some of my hypotheses about sacred homemaking and cooking on one of JMG's blogs and someone who was Eastern Indian chimed in about how many Indians know the energetic value of home cooked food. Anyway, I could go on forever about this stuff and that's why I'm writing a book. Thank you so much for finding this illuminating glimpse into the common knowledge of the past.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 05:18 pm (UTC)It's part of a longer passage that I struggle to understand, about the vague-sounding "matters"-- I really want to track it down in the original Greek (I suspect "θέματα": matters, issues-- but this isn't helping me) to see what that "matters" might possibly refer to, as I'm not at all sure from the context. But the comparisons to the hidden powers in food jumped out at me and I excerpted those :) If you want the longer context I'll happily type it out-- it just isn't about food.
You're right that the "fear of God" is a much more nuanced idea than it sounds like in modern English. Here is what St. Maximos the Confessor had to say about it:
"Fear of God is of two kinds. The first is generated in us by the threat of punishment. It is through such fear that we develop in due order self-control, patience, hope in God and dispassion; and it is from dispassion that love comes. The second kind of fear is linked with love and constantly produces reverence in the soul, so that it does not grow indifferent to God because of the intimate communion of its love. “The first kind of fear is expelled by perfect love when the soul has acquired this and is no longer afraid of punishment (cf. I John 4:18). The second kind, as we have already said, is always found united with perfect love. The first kind of fear is referred to in the following two verse: ‘Out of fear of the Lord men shun evil’ (Prov. 16:6), and ‘Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ (Ps. 111:10). The second kind is mentioned in the following verses: ‘Fear of the Lord is pure, and endures forever’ (Ps. 19:9), and ‘Those who fear the Lord will not want for anything’ (Ps. 34:10)."
So yes, literal fear as we understand it in modern English, but also... this other. And it's a progression from one to the other.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-12 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 04:05 am (UTC)I was just thinking about this challenge! I stuck with it every day for a week and then moved to twice a week instead.
Well, after applying for many grants, bursaries, and scholarships, my degree is now fully funded! This is really great!
no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 03:54 pm (UTC)Quick update on my progress
Date: 2023-10-12 10:23 am (UTC)1. I've had to travel a lot for work over the summer and had to stay in hotels. I made a point of cleaning the toilet in each hotel I stayed at to a sparkle every day. I hope that this and also keeping my room tidy sent a little bit of positivity to the cleaning staff, whom I always note my fellow PMC members hardly notice exist.
2. I sing your little rhyme, Toilet Toilet Handling Waste, Thank You for your Saving Grace, to my toilet while I clean it, to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, just much more slowly. It just feels right doing that. Plus I can't carry a tune normally but this one I can. My boy cat very often comes and keeps me company in the bathroom. I always feel honoured when any cat graces me with their presence, so there's that as well.
Thank you for this challenge/working Kimberly. I enjoy being part of it.
Re: Quick update on my progress
Date: 2023-10-12 04:03 pm (UTC)As someone who has worked in the service industry, the people who don't just leave a wreck behind them and/or act as if those serving them are disposable are often the only thing that stands between complete breakdowns of order and harmony in society. In the Ogham, Quert or Delight is the tree card that symbolizes this balance: the tiny courtesies and acts of care that so many dismiss are what make civilization worthwhile as a project.
LOL I had not thought of singing that rhyme! Genius.
Re: Quick update on my progress
Date: 2023-10-12 07:25 pm (UTC)Toilet Challenge
Date: 2023-10-12 03:33 pm (UTC)BTW, what part of your house do you clean if you want more friends and community?
Re: Toilet Challenge
Date: 2023-10-12 04:27 pm (UTC)Re: Toilet Challenge
Date: 2023-10-12 04:59 pm (UTC)Turns out if you're unhappy being in your kitchen, it's really demotivating when it comes to cooking. Sometimes the solution isn't just "willpowering" your way through the cooking problem directly, but instead making the kitchen a more pleasant place to be, first!
Re: Toilet Challenge
Date: 2023-10-13 12:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-12 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 05:41 am (UTC)Let’s all sing! 🎼From Natchez to Mobile...🎼
—Princess Cutekitten
Toilet cleaning
Date: 2023-10-13 01:55 pm (UTC)I second Methylethyl's comment about a clean and organized kitchen leading to more delicious meals (okay, I paraphrased her.)