It was what I was born for —
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world —
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant —
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
~Excerpt from “Mindful”, by Mary Oliver
I read this over the weekend, and it really spoke to me. Especially the part about “…the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations.” I know that I find a lot of joy in seeing new, and impressive sights. Despite my homebody tendencies, I love to travel and see new places – to be awed by sights that I may never see again.
But there is so much beauty in the everyday, too. So much to see in my daily life, in my commute, sitting on my couch and enjoying the blue skies (finally…) and wispy white clouds. The perfect tree that is on the golf course that backs up to my apartment building. The quirks of others I encounter in my travels and interactions – who may never know they made me smile. The guy on the bus who clearly has some difficulty with social interactions, but who waves goodbye to me each morning when I get off the bus, and who nods when I tell him to “Have a good day” as I do every morning I come into the office.
Finding that joy, reveling in the ordinary… what a simple thing to do, but it shifts my perspective and makes me realize that there is so much I take for granted. I’ll never abandon my travels, or seeking new places and new vistas. But life is really lived in those ordinary days, the ones that may seem mundane and boring when I’m in the midst of them… they are the ones that make up the true beauty of a life.