The secret life of......dust!

Dust is something we have to learn with….just like grey skies, burnt toast, blocked sinks and shoes that pinch. It’s everywhere and if you can find a little space that doesn’t have any then you’re on such a high plain that no dust can reach it...perhaps a celestial one!

Most dust is ordinary. Micro-sized particles that float around  and then land somewhere…unhealthy.... like a glass that you’re about to pour a drink into or even up your nose. You can’t get too picky about dust as you’d want to live in an oxygenated bubble so that you couldn’t even breathe it in.

Over-analysis of dust will make you paranoid. It’s on your clothes, even newly washed ones. It’s on your pillow – yes, the one you hug and kiss every night. It’s in your purse when you open it to flash a few readies. It’s on your hands, even though you believe they’re clean. Hands are huge dust magnets.

Dust...take that!!

Animal magnetism begets dust….and….dust is transferable. Every time your beloved strokes or caresses your hand they’re transferring their unique dust particles. At the start of a relationship it feels like  a sprinkling of magic dust and you just can’t get enough. Hopefully you’ll find that it’s more than dust that keeps you together so a few fine dregs won’t do any lasting damage. When a relationship sours, you don’t want to share each other’s contaminations so having separate beds or even homes is a hygienic option.

. Dust doesn’t care where it gets…because it’s everywhere. It’s joyful and happy when it gets into all the nooks and crannies of your home and life. Have you ever tidied a cupboard and been amazed by the dust when you’ve not opened the door for years. That’s how insidious the little mites are…they’ll sneak into every  crevice before you can say: "Atishoo!"

Your epidermis releases microscopic flakes whenever you move. When you throw back your head to belly laugh you’re also shaking a  good number of those flecks and specks. A good bath or shower daily will dampen dust’s enthusiasm to settle in your exposed orifices. There’s no space that’s safe from dust – your ears, nose, mouth and even that cute little navel.

Dust loves you because you and it are inseparable. You are dust of the finest kind. You are fragments of intelligence and stupidity but when you are feeling un-dustlike you believe yourself to be invincible.

The factories of my mind!

Dust can inflitate most defences but it’s important to keep your mind from acquiring too thick a layer of it. When mental dust accumulates, ordinary polish will not help rid of it.

What constitutes mental dust? Old ideas that have been whirring around in your head for so long that they keep you up at night, doing the same things and expecting different results, general moaning and groaning…in short…the inability to stay young at heart.

Mental dust will suffocate your zest for life and the only antidote to it is to find refreshing activities for the mind and body.

If you keep moving your body and de-cluttering your mind, dust can’t settle. In fact, I wonder if the late Steve Jobs was also making a subtle reference to this when he said: “don’t settle, stay hungry”. What he meant was the fact that we should keep striving. He probably knew  that human beings and their dust enjoy comfort zones. When we get stuck somewhere we lose inspiration – that sheer get up and go – that keeps us alive often helps to  stop dust in its tracks.

Dust isn’t exciting or attractive. It’s a natural nuisance. Hard to believe but some homes are dust-free zones. Dust seems to avoid certain surfaces for fear of being sprayed with furniture polish and wiped away. The most eagle-eyed members of the human race – also known as the neat freaks- can spot the minute dust devils even before they land. Dust is soon zapped and sent packing into the bin. Meticulous is good but it can lead to obsessive. No matter how much you toil to maintain a spotless environment,  dust is watching and waiting to land.

You must accept dust as you would the sunshine. Dust is mostly revealed when those ultra violet rays hit your window panes…ugh! Who doesn’t love to look out of gleaming, dust free glass? But dust will have you splashing water, scrubbing and squeeging until you can see your reflection.
Dust is a powerful motivator in getting clean and organised.

Dust elimination keeps you fit and healthy. You’ll have toned arms if you were to scour every corner but wear a mask so that you don’t breathe it in. It can play havoc with your lungs and other internals. 

Dust and I have a friendly relationship. When I see it.... I remove it.... but what the eye don’t see my heart doesn’t grieve over. One day, we’ll all be dust bunnies terrorising neighbourhoods so don't demonise it but a culling operation will keep it at bay.