by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko

In this time where most of us are ‘stuck’ at home, there are a lot of things we suddenly have to do ourselves. I have seen many many posts about how tedious it is to have to cook every day and more than once a day. A lot of us were at work, in an office for most of the day; we either packed lunch to work or just grabbed a sandwich from the tuck shop. Well, suddenly we have to cook breakfast, lunch and supper. For some, it is for an entire family vs you living alone for most of the year.

I don’t mind cooking per se, I mind cleaning, ironing, packing dishes and washing anything that has to do with windows! But it’s going to be 5 weeks at the end of 30 April, and someone has to do these. Who is still a question? I think everyone has that one chore they simply loathe, and probably add it in their prayers right after ‘save us from Corona’! But some people also have chores they do like. At least one thing that you can do without complaining and sometimes drift off in thought while doing it - so much so it becomes therapeutic.

I was thinking about this last week as I was sweeping the passage; again! I was wondering how many chores have taught me fundamental things about life in general. Honestly, cleaning a house needs attention to detail, strategy, determination, and implementation skills. I know this because there are some people who really just can’t clean a house. I’ve heard stories of their moms having to go and clean right after them LOL! This is a list of things I believe I learned from all the domestic training my mother instilled in me:

1. It has to be done

You have to wash that pan if you want to fry eggs again tomorrow. There really is no 2 ways about it. This lesson sounds so simplistic, but there are some things in business where I have wondered ‘what will happen if I don’t do this?’ Things like going to SARS, paying CIPS, etc. But you have to if you want to exist as a business and have an advantage for any upcoming opportunities. There are repercussions to not washing the pan, just like not doing your returns, on time.

2. It looks like a lot, but you can complete it

The house I grew up in is designed and built by my parents. My mother is practical, but my father is a dreamier creative. This is the only reason I can accept as to why our kitchen is as big as it is. When I was 12 years old it looked even bigger. And I had to wash the floor, alone, moving every piece of furniture (cry with me!)! I did it. I knew also that there was no rushing it, my mother was the inspector LOL. So, I took long to finish, bietjie bietjie I finished the whole floor and well. We once had to make 1000 scarves, in 1 week. I calculated that in a day we could do 50 together. By Thursday my back was sore, but we kept every step and continued. We did complete this order on time.

3. If you do it well, you don’t have to repeat it

Anyone who makes clothes will tell you the worst thing is having to unpick stitches, one by one, to correct an error. You think you are patient until you have to do this. Over the years I have learned to just make peace with the process, but I do everything to avoid this. This is why I have perfected pattern making, and I accept no errors on stitching. The machine must have oil, the right needle, correct colour thread and the person must have eaten. Same as washing windows, if you do this wrong you will have to look at your bad job every time you open the curtains.

4. It is worth it

There is nothing more fulfilling than walking on a floor with nothing on it, nothing like putting your head on a freshly washed and ironed pillow case, nothing like walking into a clean kitchen. I can go on and on but you get my point. There is nothing like coming back to a studio on a Monday to an empty rail. Ready for new projects, last weeks projects were done well and fitted well enough for the clients to take them home. Also, the sooner you clean out, the sooner the next step can be initiated.

5. It is therapeutic

There is a chore we did at my house every single morning; preferably before sunrise. It is sweeping the yard. All of it. So, we had to wake up at 5:30 – 6am to start this work. Again, my parents yard seemed unnecessarily huge to me. Today, I can sweep that yard in 30 minutes. Doing the same thing daily eventually becomes…hmmmm easy. So easy you finish before you even know it. The sound of the broom with every stroke became white noise to my mind. At the end of this chore I would realize I’ve just planned my entire day. I went through the whole process in meditation. Today, I need meditation every day, so much so I have started to sweep the yard here whenever I can.

As a child, there are a lot of things I had to do which I did not like. Well, guess what, adulthood is the same! I am aware of why I am able to do some of these things, where I learned the ability to go through them. Some had to be learned at a university yes, but a lot of what we do each day and how we live does build a certain character in us. All struggle really does have a return at some point. This of course doesn’t mean I enjoyed chores or do today LOL. I am still complaining while doing them. But I am sure there is a reason in the future.

Brigette Mashile is the founder and creative force behind Roka Roko, a custom fashion design business based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company passionately delivers quality tailored and trendy fashion to make their customers happy, and specializes in styling women by creating unusual combinations with fabric, culture and style. Brigette has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Witwatersrand and a Fashion Diploma from Studio5 School of Fashion. She’s a former fashion buyer for a major retailer in South Africa, and an international direct selling company. She’s been passionate about fashion since the age of 10 and gained invaluable experience in the fashion world running informal fashion creation businesses until the day her own Roka Roko brand was born. Find out more by visiting the Roka Roko website www.rokaroko.co.za