Dusting

It is easy to feel gratitude when one receives something special or achieves a milestone. Being grateful for redundant daily activity, however, is much harder. This is particularly true if one feels small or isolated. One way to assist oneself in feeling grateful is to look outside of the self. If one can find something of interest in the immediate, surrounding world, and become a part of it, peacefulness will increase. This activity encourages a state of being present in the moment. A short cut to achieving this meditative state is to look for a marker that one is not alone in the universe. In quiet contemplation, it is common to realize one is a part of something greater than the self. Nelson’s speaker, engaged with the “infernal, endless chore” (Line 19) of dusting, realizes that they can be grateful for the tedious act because it has a purpose, which connects to making the world a better place. As the speaker concentrates, they realize a full picture of “dust’s” (Lines 18, 21) many beauties and benefits. First, the speaker describes its motes as magical treasure—its “intricate shapes” (Line 6) contain multitudes. Second, some of the motes are “spores” (Lines 9, 10) that through “mutual genetic cooperation” (Line 12) help things grow all over the globe.