I just read an article titled “So You Think You’re Happy” that suggests certain activities that might promote a sense of wellbeing or contentedness with one’s life.
One of the suggestions is to write a “day in the life” blog post as a series, which strikes me as just the thing. My life is fairly ho hum, so I have plenty of material for slice of life posts. Maybe I’ll learn to appreciate my quiet existence if I write about my days.
Lately I’ve been staying in bed until around 8:30 or 9:00 am, long enough for mediation and breathing to ease the anxiety. I lie on my side and look out the window for a while, and then I sit up and meditate in bed. I feel grateful for working part-time, which gives me the flexibility to work on my mental health at my leisure.
The next step is to let the dogs out into our wooded, fenced backyard. Today S.A. did that job, which was nice for a change. I made coffee, sat in a chair near the sunny living room window, and read news articles for an hour.
In the afternoon I took Red for a six-mile hike at a local park. It was fun at first, but he kept tugging on the leash and wanting to sniff every single dog we passed.
I suppose it wouldn’t have been too draining except I just had minor surgery yesterday for a skin cancer lesion, and I was in some pain still from the incision. Next time I’ll probably leave Red at home and do my usual hike with trekking poles. Today when we were going down some rocks, he pulled on the leash and I landed on my rump. Plus, I scraped my hand.
S.A. has been making dinner every Wednesday night, which I so appreciate. Tonight it was cod with spinach and lemon sauce served with zucchini and tomatoes baked in the oven with avocado oil. It was doubly delicious because he made it AND cleaned up.
While he was cooking, I headed to my office and wrote 500 words of the travelogue I’m working on. Usually, I try to write more, but I was wiped out from the hike up the mountain, even after resting for a half an hour.
So, those were the highlights of my day, besides the ever-enlightening conversations I had with my sons and the books I’ve been reading. My daily wish is to gain insights and to better understand the people I love.
Balanced On the Edge 
I like your slice-of-life posts, and I like their introspection and calm. I find that reading about your ho hum-ness is a kind of restorative to me…I felt so out of control and chaotic because of living with someone with extreme mental illness (and its deleterious effect on me) that I appreciate the opportunity to experience calm vicariously through you…Of course I know you have to work on it, that it doesn’t just come easy. So I guess that makes me doubly appreciative because I reap a benefit from your meditation in the form of these posts. Xo
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I’m so sorry you had to endure such negativity, JC. Hopefully you will become a stronger person because of it. It takes a while to work through that kind of pain. Daily work! Not everyone digs meditation–my husband doesn’t meditate. But any activity that engrosses you can work just as well. Watching cats play can be soothing.
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Thanks Christine. This was so calming and so well written. And I was a bit jealous of having somebody make you dinner once a week—sounded great—and clean but….
I love your posts and your walks. I’ve always been a walker but never thought about it in the same way you do. That’s the magic of writing and reading.
I so wanted to thank you. I don’t respect many people. I do you. And your compliment had me on a high all night. It also made me realize how the Internet has become way too important to my self worth.
All the blogging groups—where comments count much more than talent. And people think they have rediscovered the wheel by talking about issues—issues that have concerned my entire life and I used to write about but….
I never should have gotten into disability but I had to understand and reading writing and talking are my way of processing. Come to think of it—those three things basically cover everything.
I decided awhile ago just to focus on writing. And your comment came at the perfect time. So thank you!
And even your template is calming.
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I think your writing about disability is brilliant! Thanks for reading and leaving a comment, Pia. It’s important for us to be able to express ourselves in writing if that’s the medium that calls to us. Maybe you’ll try your own “day in the life” posts!
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