Heart Pocket Word for the Day is Ordinary!

The word from my heart pocket is Ordinary.

What is ordinary? Nine to five, a commute of some sort, punching a clock, two weeks vacation? Planning meals for the family, carpool, cleaning the house, pulling weeds, changing diapers, volunteering at school? Hustling a gig, pitching your idea, working with clients, flying here and there, presenting, convincing, persuading, sleeping when you can? Needing a bodyguard to go to the grocery store, someone choosing your clothes and bringing them to your house, you can't go anywhere without being recognized? What is routine, what is ordinary for you?

Look at your life. Whatever it is that is habitual is ordinary. You are used to it. It is familiar and frequent and typical in your days. When something becomes a habit, it also becomes prone to being ignored. We become anesthetized to the nuances of ordinary and we don't see how beautiful it is. We ignore the details in lieu of wanting something extraordinary. We miss a lot that is remarkable in this pursuit, including opportunities present inside our daily lives that when pursued, will lead to our dreams.

Let's be mindful. Let's pay attention to this moment. I'm writing and the words somehow zoom out of my brain through my fingers who magically know which keys to press at about 100 words/minute. I take that for granted. It's what I do. Every day. I get up, I feed the dog and cat and take a walk or go to the gym. I pour a cup of coffee and I come to my computer to write. I do it routinely, wherever I am and although I love it and choose to do it, it is ordinary for me. The words don't always come easily and I have to push through the fog to a place where it is clearer. Some days are better than others. I have to hustle to get work. No nine to five for this girl. I spend hours looking for people who need a writer. I bid and negotiate and when that job is on my agenda, I start looking for another one so I'll have consistent work. That is extraordinary to some. 

I have a friend who is a pilot. Her routine is extraordinary to me but she has voiced a longing for the extraordinary experience of not having to come and go every week. Another friend cares for her grandchildren weekly which she loves. She has cared for her elderly parents and siblings and consistently volunteered, helps friends (I'm one of them) and leads what I know she would call an ordinary life. Her time with her grandchildren, her energy and love spent taking her mother to the doctor and making sure her final days were comfortable and pleasing were extremely hard and frustrating to her. To me, she is extraordinary. 

What we choose to do is how we build our lives. To experience extraordinary, we must begin where we are; we must start with ordinary. Extraordinary days come from our habits, our choices, and from what we believe. Extraordinary is always present. How we choose to see our lives - ordinary or extraordinary - is up to us. 

I believe in ordinary. I have extraordinary moments in my life but every one of them has come from long periods of ordinary that when I look back on them in my extraordinary moment, see that they were not ordinary at all. Ordinary is extraordinary, one and the same. 

Let's hear it for this ordinary day!