Simple day
Today was a simple day.
Did some tidying around the house. I really think that getting a weekly (if possible ofc) reset where you tidy up your space leads to a much better week. Cleaning is so hard for me to get started, but once I do, it’s extremely satisfying. Much more so if I’m able to do things that I’ve been putting off for a while. It was a cool, gray day, not too cold. We had sandwiches for lunch and a butternut squash casserole for dinner (one of my wife’s specialties and a really delicious meal).
This past week was a pretty good week, all things considered. Work in particular was pretty good. Of course it’s still riddled with issues, but my little part of it is going well. The effort I’ve been putting into re-framing my current career as a springboard to something better in a few years has been really paying off. I feel less down, and more determined to do well at my job even in the face of systemic issues. I’m doing this for myself and for my family, not for my bosses or their success. That simple re-framing has helped my work feel a bit more meaningful.
I saw someone I know earlier today. He’s a man in his late 50’s, mid 60’s at the most. For some reason, maybe it was the light, or just the angle at which he was sitting, but I looked at his face and suddenly he looked much older. I saw a glimpse of what he’d look like at 75. I realized that he’d be 75 in not too long, and that I wouldn’t be that far behind him. I thought about all the simple days that he’d lived through, regular days full of doing dishes, vacuuming, dinners with his family - I realized that unless I learn to treasure these simple days, I would reach his age with nothing to show for it. The simple days are the bulk of our time on this planet, and if we don’t find joy in them, we won’t find joy in much of anything.