Today was good. It was stressful and busy and frustrating and good. It was a bit different because I woke up a little later than usual, which threw off my morning routine. I shouldn’t really call it a routine yet because it is constantly changing, but it can be extra hectic when I don’t get up early. I let that slide this morning though because Theo wanted to sleep in the bed with me for a few hours, and I found that hard to resist. Also, it was a working from home day, so I didn’t have to deal with a commute on top of being behind.

Meditation

That meant that I didn’t do my meditation in the morning, however. I am not certain that I can tell a difference in the days that I meditate in the morning and the days that I don’t, but I suspect that there’s a difference. Today, I did my meditating while sitting on the patio at Starbucks. More on the reason for that later. It was different. It was outside, so even though I had earbuds in with the Calm app’s “mountain lake” soundtrack to accompany me, I heard lots of birds and felt the wind and the sun on my skin. Usually I’m inside and it all feels quite isolated. I suppose that makes sense for meditating, but this was a nice change.

Exercise

I did the morning walk with Rory. It wasn’t quite as long as I like (because of the running behind) but it was decent enough. I do think I need to either bump up the intensity in the morning or start doing something in addition.

Act of Kindness

I read a friend’s poems that he recently had published in an online journal, and I sent him a few kind words. This doesn’t feel especially like an overt act of kindness since what he wrote was good and I enjoyed it. But I suppose I could have said nothing, or never read his poems in the first place. Giving people compliments feels good. On Monday, I noticed that a security guard at work had a new haircut, and I told her it looked nice. And last week I told a different security guard that I liked his suspenders. It’s funny how people often seem surprised by a compliment. We tend to go through our days assuming no one is really paying attention to us, or at least not to the little things that we put effort into. I think it’s hard to fake the smile of a compliment well received.

Gratitude

Our electricity was out for a little while today. We were warned that it was a possibility because they are testing some lines or something. It turned out to not be off for as long as they predicted though.

1. I’m grateful for how rarely we go without electricity.
2. I’m grateful that even when it is out, I’m not totally in the dark. I remember my parents keeping standard telephone in the house even after they had upgraded to a wireless headset. Because, when the power was out, the old phone would still work; it got the electricity it needed through the phone line. I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere. Now, I have a cell phone that connects to the internet. I prefer to use wifi when I can, but I have the option of getting online even when we have no electricity.
3. I’m grateful for Starbucks. Because I was working from home today, I couldn’t just use my phone to check in. I needed to be online on the computer so I could access work files. Starbucks did that for me, and they caffeinated me in the process.

Something positive

We went to the hardware store to pick up some paint samples. We’ve decided that this could be the last time we ever have enough time or energy to do any improvement on the house, so we’re getting rid of some of our white walls. Well, the walls are staying, but they’ll no longer be white. As we were leaving, Theo, who was excited about the possibility of adventure, said he wanted me to ride in the back while Mom and Nonna (grandmother) rode in the front. Usually, I’m the one driving, so this was a nice treat. I got to sit in the back and talk to him about all the vehicles we saw on the way, about the sky, and about how all chicken is chicken nuggets. He’s a lot of fun, and it’s nice to be able to appreciate him from so many different angles.

And that’s day two. Let me know if you’ve tried out any of these tasks. Happy hump night. (That’s a thing, right?)