I’ve always wanted to live somewhere else. Maybe a year. Maybe longer? I didn’t go that far away for my undergrad and part of me has felt like I’ve missed out on something. i did do some traveling – seattle, Portland, san Francisco, italy…after college. But never really stayed in one place for long. And always, I knew I was heading back to long island. I did stay in san Francisco. But had to cut my month long apartment, job, and friends, short. Unfortunately. I’ve recently been looking at all of these different websites for information on internship abroad for the summer. The summer is the summer. It’s definite. Living somewhere else is so permanent. I guess that’s the point. I guess I like the idea as long as there is the thought of an end. It also gives a sense of urgency – quick! You’re only here for a tiny bit of time! And then! Back to the mundane. Make the best of it. I wonder if that means we don’t make the best of our “mundane lives.” How do we make the best of our mundane lives? I guess I’m equating “mundane” with our normal everyday existence. I don’t know if that’s truly fair but that’s where i’m going. Our everyday lives can get mundane – work, school, friends, t.v, sleep, do it all over again. So how to make our regular/mundane lives not so mundane? I feel like I’m always making excuses to keep it mundane. That’s not completely true. We did just get back from a break where I felt like I got to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. But now that school has started my schedule, as well as many others, looks more like the one listed above. So, back to my original question, how to make regular lives less mundane. In high fidelity fashion, I’ve created a top five list of “how to make my regular life less mundane.”
5. Make lists. Sort of a cop out “make lists” is the number five on the “how to” list. I know. But what about a lit of fun things? I love to make a list for errands and chores and homework…but what about a list of fun? Why not feel just as good about crossing off “jumping in puddles outside of erin’s house” as “call and defer loan payments.” Right? Right.
4. Let go of time. I feel like this might be one of the harder things to accomplish on a weekly basis. We’re all working and going to school and doing homework and dropping off dry cleaning and making dinner and taking the dog to the vet and and and and. Highly scheduled days, we have. But letting linear time disappear, even if it’s twenty minutes, that’s a real gift.
3. Color. I highly recommend this. Not only is it relaxing, a form of meditation for sure, but it’s almost like a portal to your childhood. I mean, you get to color Disney princesses or tonka trucks or dinosaurs. Subject matter aside, you get to be a kid again. And whatever kind of kid you want. Using a little creativity can’t hurt either. Go ahead, give belle black hair with blonde highlights. A plaid apron and maybe a sleeve of tattoos. And you’ve got yourself a less mundane belle. Check.
2. Take the long route home. I drove from school to my house, which is typically a five minute drive, today and took a round about way. I was weary about this decision as 347 at 5/ish is asking for a headache but I don’t regret it one bit. I got to see the strip malls as the sun was setting. Listening to a mix I had made the night before, humming along, watching the halogen lights turn on and pop out from the navy sky. It was beautiful. I know beautiful and strip malls don’t seem like they should be in the same sentence but, I promise it was. It was a long island suburban moment that was less mundane than taking the five minute drive home, for sure.
1. “details, details, details!” this is a quote courtesy of my 10th, 11th, and 12th grade English and creative writing teacher Mr. Nolan. While the rest of smithtown highschool was scared to death of this man, I was in awe. He knew everything about English. Grammar rules, authors, essay technique, paragraph construction – you name it, he knew it. I remember in one of our classes he started to lecture is about how we have to be on time and there sonly 45 minutes in a period…and then he abruptly turned his back to us. “get out a pen and paper and write down exactly what my tie looks like.” I panicked. I wrote down what I thought and when he turned around, I was wrong. “Always be a good observer. Every detail matters,” is what he told us. And by golly has it helped to make life less mundane. The red of my dashboard against the darkness of the street on my drive home from work, a mother and daughter in matching outfits at king kullen, the positioning of the blackberries on my breakfast plate…Mr. Nolan’s emphasis on details helps me every day and now I hope it helps you.
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