Surprising Commonplace Day

A commonplace or ordinary day often gets a bad rap, being frequently described as dull or boring. This is not how I see the ordinary. Truth is, we live most of our lives in ordinary days, doing repetitive tasks, some of which we like and others not. Consequently, we take a lot for granted.

As one example, we don’t pay much attention to hot water for a shower or our bed for sleeping, until we are deprived by one or the other. We certainly wouldn’t look twice at a hot water bottle. Until – on the ordinary days when you are visiting your cousin and discover the warmth and comfort of the TWO hot water bottles she carefully slips in between your sheets a half hour before bedtime. What a surprise and what comfort.

Stillness

Take this commonplace morning when I was invited for an early morning walk. My cousin’s neighbour on the left extended the invitation, and we had a walk through Randell Park, where we were greeted by the stillness of autumn foliage and the mist rising off the Kennebecasis River. Not another soul in sight. The quiet of the mist, the trees, wet grass and bird sounds.

Roots

We carried on to Dutch Point Park with trails through the woods, winding hills to climb, beautiful views, quiet, quiet, quiet. A surprise was the sight of the roots of a fallen tree. There it was on display, as if installed for us to admire, as we walked on by. We stopped, however, to examine and photograph. Perhaps to you it looks like a pile of sticks, but I was drawn to the roots and shoots.

Station 33

Next stop, the cafe on Railway Crescent across from the Train Station. A steaming Americano and a cookie were the final touches to our outing. A great way to start a Wednesday.

Neighbour to the right

I slipped next door to the neighbour on my right to see another cousin and share a few moments. Nothing special, you say, yet a few words, a second cup of coffee, laughter and chatter were an important and unique element in this particular ordinary day. And as I padded along the well-worn path between houses, I felt that rise of simple joy. Nothing special on the surface and completely special in my heart of hearts.

Unexpected Visitors

By early afternoon, completely coincidental, two cousins from Maine stopped by to say hello. They didn’t know I was here. No one knew they were coming. A delightful surprise. We got to have a visit and a catch-up for the afternoon until they had to leave for home.

Time moves on quickly, and before we know it, 2,555 ordinary days have gone by since we last saw each other. So this ordinary day was filled with, well, ordinary surprises, since I chose to see them that way.

Why am I writing about this? I suppose because I think it is easy to dismiss much of our lives by comparing them to what we don’t have, or waiting for them to be different. The only slippery slope of this is dismissing big chunks of our lives that contain beauty, aliveness and meaning.

One More Thing

In our ordinary days, we get to take risks and try new things. On one of these days last summer, I submitted a poem I wrote about losing my hair during chemo to Georgetown University Arts and Humanities called Lombardi Voices. I felt a little foolish doing this, but I did it anyway. Since that time, I completely forgot about it until this ordinary evening when I just received an email telling me it has been accepted for this year’s collection.

Something like this is delightful. Not because it was expected (I had forgotten about it) or a great poem, but it was a sweet surprise. I want to encourage you that if you have something you want to do – well,  go ahead and do it. I had no expectations that it would be accepted, but I decided to doubt my doubts and submit it anyway.

So my perfectly ordinary day in this little town of Hampton, population 4000, contained many joyful, beautiful, meaningful moments, not to mention the laughter, and greeting friendly people – it was a good day.

NOTES

1) This Friday, I will get to do my Wellspring webinar in a small private room at the Halifax Main Library. This is a special event for me because I am a big fan of this beautiful library. I can hardly believe my good luck to get to do a webinar there. This is an unintended consequence of my going to Halifax to see my 101-year-old aunt and a few more cousins.

2) Improving Healthcare through the Arts – The Georgetown Lombardi Arts & Humanities Program (AHP) at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital promotes cura personalis, which means care for the whole person, for patients, family members, caregivers, medical staff, students, and community members. Through its offerings of music, expressive writing, dance, and visual arts, wellness is significantly promoted throughout the hospital. (They offer free online programs for everyone)

3) One of my dear Japanese friends, Sadahiko, died this week in peace without pain. He was a kind, accomplished, generous man who was respected and beloved. I offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends. He will be greatly missed. And I thank my dear friends who translated and carried my words to his bedside. With great appreciation and love. 

4) I am beyond grateful for the kindness that you, dear reader, extend to me. Many of you have been with me for almost eight years. Please accept my appreciation. Warmest and best wishes, Trudy

PS This little plate of leaves is now a week old. I picked them up on a walk and had them on my cousin’s breakfast table. How ordinary can you get? They are now very dry and faded with a few holes, but I still enjoy seeing them in the morning. Soon they will be gone.