Celebrate The Ordinary

Enjoying the "Ordinary" by fishing from the rocks into the rapids of the Roanoke River in Weldon, North Carolina.
(click to enlarge)
Nikon Z7; 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E AF-P lens @ 92mm; 1/100th sec. @ f/11; ISO 64

I've been thinking.  We should all be celebrating the "ordinary."  I think the "ordinary" is underappreciated and largely ignored.  Especially now.


Think about how your life was and how it now is with the pandemic related lock downs, social distancing, wearing of masks, gloves, disinfectant wipes, trying to buy toilet paper, fear of acquiring a virus that could potentially kill you (and currently still no cure) and how dramatically the "ordinary" things about your life have changed.  

Think about how good it would feel to get back to normal, to the "ordinary."  Think about running into a friend, standing closer than 6 ft., not wearing a mask, and just shaking hands, giving or getting a hug, smiling and talking in the aisle of a grocery store.  Or, sitting at a restaurant, seeing a friend at the next table and being able to walk over and enjoy a brief conversation, maybe even sit down without worrying about if he or she or any of the others seated at their table is a potential spreader of the virus.

Think about you, your children or grandchildren being able to fully return to the classroom and you or their parents not having to worry how you are going to juggle child care and virtual remote learning for them as well as you having to work.

Think about actually going back to work and things being normal—ordinary, routine, as was, boring even.  I always thought half the satisfaction of working for any particular company or in any particular occupation is the people with whom you work.  That human contact, socialization, is just as important as the work itself when measuring job satisfaction.  Working from home, for most people, doesn't bring much satisfaction.

Keep a mindset of positivity, happiness and satisfaction.  A positive mindset is half the battle in these extraordinarily inordinary times.  Be the optimist and think about how it will be to get back to ordinary, i.e., normal.

If you are waiting for the "extraordinary," it may never arrive!  Can you afford to wait?  Celebrate what you can.  Celebrate your small, meaningful everyday activities.  Celebrate just getting out and filling your vehicle up with fuel.  Celebrate going for a walk.

Be thankful things aren't worse.

Now is the time to treat yourself to some ordinary pleasure such as ice cream, a piece of cake, a candy bar, a cookie or two or just some good coffee or tea.  If you can't eat sweets, then figure out what little things give you guilty pleasure and go for it!

Do it today.

Yes, I think it is time to recognize the ordinary, the simple things in life we normally take for granted and celebrate them.  I wish these times were ordinary but they aren't so I'll celebrate what I can.

Join me over at my website, www.dennismook.com.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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