Elevating the ordinary…
While we may live in vastly different circumstances, there is one universal truth that unites us all: 90% of our daily lives are filled with the mundane tasks that sustain our existence. Whether it’s attending meetings, doing the laundry, watering the plants, commuting, preparing dinner, writing emails, or reading bedtime stories – these routine activities form the backbone of our everyday lives.
Just quickly reflect on your past week. Do you agree that the moments that truly captured your attention or elevated your life experience were few and far between? At first glance, this realisation might seem like a letdown — perhaps even a little disheartening. Can life really be summarised as such a monotonous affair?
The truth? It is what it is, and this rhythm will likely continue for the rest of your life. Life, for the most part, involves chipping away at the unglamorous tasks of living, only occasionally flavoured by unusual experiences. Even the most passionate acts of creation are made up of many tedious and repetitive tasks; even breathtaking places soon become familiar; that beloved piece of clothing still needs to be washed and ironed; a long-awaited newborn baby requires mostly unvaried tending, feeding, and bathing.
But here’s where you have a choice. Living solely for exceptional moments may lead to missing out on 90% of your life, always waiting for the magic to happen. Instead, you may consider transforming daily, menial tasks into something more conscious and meaningful. To embrace the chores of life differently, without constantly longing for the extraordinary.
This approach is more challenging than it seems. It requires a significant mindset shift to make more out of life’s trivial activities and to engage in everyday routines with greater awareness. Novelty excites us, which means turning mundane activities into rituals of groundedness and finding beauty in the unspectacular may be a stretch. But it can be a profound stretch; connecting with life’s simplicities more intentionally. There is so much beauty to be found in those moments.
Challenge yourself to embrace this approach. Life, for as long as you live, is mainly going to present itself in chores; make a beautiful peace with it. An ordinary day is where you will receive the gift of living — take delivery of it in a more remarkable way. Instead of viewing these activities as tasks to rush through mindlessly, slow down and approach them differently. Find joy in them. Redefine them. Turn them into mini-celebrations. Befriend them. Perform them with poise.
The point is simple: An ordinary day is the only canvas upon which you paint the story of your life. Embrace it. Be fully there.
Remember, your intention toward anything in life shapes your experience of it. May mundane tasks become acts of thoughtfulness and care. Each time you water a plant, may you remember it’s a matter of life and death for another being. The next time you prepare dinner, turn the simplest of rituals into gourmet ceremonials. And as you read that bedtime story to your child at the end of another ordinary day, may you remember that you are shaping the way in which someone will view the world.