Changing it up

There are days when I awake and monotony fills my bones. My skin crawls because my day is laid out before me at sunrise the same as it was the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that. I crawl out of bed with Bonnie Rait lyrics on my mind, "What the hell kind of person, goes to work in the morning, comes home in the evening, with nothing to say." I loathe this type of living. When I wake on mornings draped in this sensation, I have to trudge through a huge pile of work to feel productive, first. From Memoirs of a Geisha, "There is nothing like work to get over disappointment." But only REAL work, blood, sweat, and tears, will help one escape the slump of status quo. For me this could mean, slamming out my thesis, finishing one of my gazillion to do lists, or running farther than I ever have before--ideally, all of the above. That is the perfect way for me to make a sour day turn golden. Somehow, I have to sweat the monotony out. THEN, I have to do something crazy. Something out of the ordinary. Something random, enlightening, and inspiring. Whether that is doing a new watercolor painting, writing a new poem, going on a night hike, playing near the monument with my sister, watching a Shakespeare movie, staying up all night and reading Robert Frost poems in my bath tub with a glass of red wine, watching C-span while working on a charcoal sketch, cooking a new recipe with a friend, reading a history book, watching one of my favorite movies, throwing a last minute dance party with my sister in her room, making a new mix CD, compiling inspiring quotes, having an impromptu bonfire, going to library and learning something new because I can and I want to and not because any body is making me, planning a backpacking trip on my topo software, calling a friend and telling them a new pirate joke, or even listening to an entire Smashing Pumpkins CD while I revamp my resume, its the little things in a day that spice up a Monday-Friday 9 to 5 existence that are important to me. Laughter, spiritual growth, and sharing magical moments with friends matters as much as success. Every man or woman has a different way they survive the existence that is American drudgery. How do you do it? What gets you through the week when life starts to repeat itself, and you wonder if you are guest starring in Groundhog Day? Life doesn’t always have to wait for the weekend. Carpe Diem.