Novelty & How to Find It
"I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life." -F. Scott Fitzgerald
Finding joy in the mundane. The words sound pretty, but is it really that simple? When the weather is gloomy and the routine is repetitive and even your everyday coffee order seems to bore you to tears, is it that easy to “find joy in the mundane?” Here’s what I have found to be true: we are living a constant cycle of amazing and awful and ordinary.
The early mornings and drawn out lectures, the long nights out and quiet evenings in; from one extreme to the other, there is so much variety, so many routes we can take. And with that, there is a lot of room for us to grow tired and sick of the never-ending merry-go-round. The humdrum of everyday leaves us ready for something new, a spark that will revive us back to life and give us purpose.
After all, isn’t that what we’re all striving for? Purpose?
In my three years as a college student, I have survived countless bouts of what I like to call “being in a funk.” These funks are far and few, but when they hit, they hit hard. I find myself being pulled by time and discipline alone to do the things I have to do to stay afloat. The technicalities of pursuing my passions begin to seem like mountains I have no energy to climb. My creativity has simmered and my patience has thinned. I wait silently for something new to come into my life, blazing and ripping me away from my complacency.
Veering off the dramatic path, there are times when these sparks of novelty are necessary. We need to go to places unexplored, cook new foods, switch up our routine, and give the spaces we live in a really good feng shui treatment (even if it’s in the middle of the night). Draw, write, hammock, study the Bible. Listen to a cinematic soundtrack. Do the things that make three hours feel like 10 minutes and give us the reviving shot of life that will propel us to do better and have persistent joy.
For me, it was cleaning out my vases of the grimy plant water they seemed to have accumulated over the past few weeks and putting fresh flowers in each of them. It was taking time to chop up some celery (with peanut butter on top, of course) and eat it as a snack instead of taking my trusty, family size bag of Raisinets to my room. I watched some animated shorts and brainstormed ideas for stories I’d want to make come to life when I *one day* learn how to animate. Then it came down to mentally envisioning the next three months and how good it will feel once all the work I’m putting in now comes to fruition.
Again, these are pretty words. I’d be doing you a disservice if I acted as a walking Pinterest board, so I’ll be brutally honest: it is freaking hard to pull yourself out of a rut. In the spirit of transparency, you and I both know it is worth it. Start with practicing gratitude, even if it means that you’re grateful for everything from the Texas sun to the dirt underneath your shoes. Take a different route on the way to Target. Recreate your morning routine to be something that revitalizes you and makes you excited to wake up in the morning. Remove yourself from the comfortable things and run blindly into new territory.
Make the most ordinary things in your life extraordinary again.
