A day before December 2nd, I received a flyer in the mail from my local health club with the bold headline, “Disrupt Your Daily Life.” I quickly grasped the sales pitch about shaking off old habits and starting a better exercise plan for the new year. , is clearly a worthwhile idea.
Still, I found myself urged to disrupt my routine. At the time, we had just gotten out of Pandemic Protocol, which was an endless chaos of routines.
I had just started a new job when lockdown started. Our families, along with the rest of the world, have overcome these hurdles, escaped serious health problems, and are fortunate to have been able to maintain employment.
The past year has brought many blessings to our home, even though they were not routine. Our daughter got married. This was a happy hurricane. Because it was a joy to our family and a disruption to the basic patterns of our day-to-day life.
The wedding week will be remembered as a strange, dreamy time as different parts of the bridal party tour our homes. Our daughter lost her tooth retainer in a scuffle and inexplicably found it in a gift bag days later. I finally found them in a bag of half-eaten potato chips.
It all felt a little surreal, but then again, life in the larger world continues to feel less than normal as well.
As 2023 kicks off, routines seem very appealing. One of his favorite observations on the subject comes from the late author May Sarton, who argued that “routine” doesn’t have to mean “boredom.” Sarton said: A typical New England church. Routine is not a prison, it’s a way to freedom from time. Time, which seems to be measured, has an immeasurable space within it that resembles music. ”
Sarton’s argument that a properly accepted routine can be a form of liberation made me think about why a regular schedule was so important in a monastery. Without getting bogged down in a lot of thinking about what to do next and where to do it, the mind can focus on higher things.
Monastic life isn’t for me, but believe it or not, I’m hoping that in 2023 the seasons will be easier to plot and the times will be a little easier to predict.
At this point, your routine will feel like heaven.
Email Danny Heitman (danny@dannyheitman.com).
