It was just an ordinary day; I woke up and, as usual, smiled at my sleeping husband next to me, and at the two black dogs at the foot of the bed. I got up and did chores, I talked with Dan over breakfast, walked the dogs, practiced for my recital, taught some lessons. We went to lunch and I smiled and spoke to the wildly diverse people I passed on the sidewalk along the way. I laughed with friends, got frustrated at crazy drivers, I wrote. No magic, nothing mystical-just everyday happenings.
What made it not so ordinary? I remembered how important, how precious, the little things in the daily stuff of life are. I remembered to be grateful for my loved ones, for a career that fulfills me and stretches me, for my animals, for the many blessings in my life. I walked around my home and yard and saw the results of the years of blood, sweat, and tears that Dan and I have put into making it a place of peace and beauty. I noticed the bee buzzing in a flower’s bloom, a bird singing away above me. I looked out at the view from the top deck- how can I ever see that as ordinary?
I thought about the many “ordinary” days I have had; sitting next to a dying parent, holding her hand and comforting her; teaching students and seeing the glimmer of understanding and excitment; supporting a friend battling breast cancer; talking and laughing with an elderly gentleman in the grocery store, making his day…and mine; listening to a beautiful symphony, driving with the top down on a sunny day; running errands with my sweet Dan as we talk and laugh.
You see, I think that the “ordinary” is actually pretty extraordinary. The day-to-day things that make the world go ’round. Life is filled with magic….but magic can be subtle, showing up in the gifts of the everyday. It all depends on the lens you choose to look through. I hope that I always choose the lens of gratitude for every part of my life, not pining for what I don’t have, not ignoring hopes and dreams…but remembering to relish the beauty in the real stuff of life, the little things that really aren’t so little- and certainly aren’t ordinary.
The View from Here 