Yesterday I found myself standing in front of a cashier in a big box store. She looked to be about sixty and had a pleasant demeanor. As is my habit, I asked if she was having a good day.
She said yes and then she launched into the story of WHY she was having a good day. In a nutshell, she said the quality of your day is up to you. It’s up to you to make it good regardless of your circumstances.
She admitted that she had just had knee surgery and her knee was hurting but she talked about how fortunate she is to be in her seventies and for that to be her only complaint. She listed the blessings in her life – her kids, grandkids, a roof over her head, a job – and no other ailments besides that knee.
She wished me a very good day and sent me out into the world feeling better about life.
Note that she is about fifteen years older than she looked and I am convinced that this attitude has kept her youthful and healthy. Internalize stress and it will ruin your life. Be able to acknowledge there are things in this world you cannot change and suddenly other people’s bad attitudes are not your burden to carry. Everything you have is suddenly enough.
The theme here at Make The Journey Fun is “you’ll be as happy as you make up your mind to be.” This is more of a mission statement than anything for me but this lady is the living, breathing embodiment of the idea.
Last October, my Wyoming pal and I found ourselves worrying about the dark skies ahead on a lonely stretch of highway somewhere between Casper and Cody.
We did run into some rain but it wasn’t bad at all. As the shower was ending, we stopped at a convenience store in Shoshoni in search of a clean bathroom and road snacks. When we stepped outside, we saw this rainbow.
We admired it for a moment and I grabbed a couple of photos because rainbows are special and beautiful no matter where they appear.
But I came home and looked at the photos with an honest eye: the street, vacant lot, and power lines really don’t make a great backdrop. I mean, I went all the way to Wyoming and this rainbow couldn’t have shown itself over a mountain or something?
Good gravy.
But I stand by my belief that rainbows are special everywhere and that even an ugly spot can be made nicer with help from nature. And what’s wrong with appreciating the world for what it is? Perfection is boring. Flaws create interest and spark conversation.
This isn’t a cheesy AI generated image or a carefully posed Instagram photo.
This is real life. While not always perfect, real life is pretty great.
Light and color illuminate the world and make the ugly bits that much nicer. And if we can’t appreciate the good when it’s improving a place, will we truly appreciate the good when it’s in just the right spot?
I’m going to stick with appreciating pretty things like rainbows wherever they may appear. Perfection is overrated!
This summer has been almost completely void of adventure and there’s a good reason for that. You see, I have been staying home because of a remodeling project in my master bathroom.
My wonderful cousin did the work for me but he mostly could only work on Saturdays so all my day trip days were spent at home. Also, all my day trip money was spent on this project so that worked out nicely! Ha!
Normally by this time I would have at least five or six really good day trips under my belt and maybe some hikes. Instead, I have been doing household chores and reading while Nathan worked.
Now the work is done and I’m thrilled to have things put together and looking nice. He did a great job!
The project started because there was a leak at the shower. Repairing that leak was a good excuse to replace the flooring because carpet in a bathroom is an awful idea. As long as we were doing that, it made sense to replace the 23 year old toilet and stand alone tub and then there was the matter of the sink….
You get the idea.
It was a pyramid scheme, this bathroom of mine.
But it’s all done with fixtures and colors that I find timeless and calming. This wall is the focal point. There’s still some work to be done with rearranging things. I like the variety of old and new, farmhouse and polish, gold next to black metal and white fixtures.
I value the small details like this hook for my pjs. The swan reminds me of my stay at the Broadmoor where there are nods to the swans around the property.
The shower is a pure delight in the morning with vintage style knobs and a great shower head. I especially lIke the pretty doors but decided to frame them with some sheer curtains just to soften the room a bit. Unfortunately the glass is so shiny and nice that it’s impossible to get decent picture without lots of reflections with the lights on – and it looks really terrible with the lights out. But you get the idea.
And I’m really happy with the new sink and faucet too! I have always liked this style of sink. The pump style faucet is very low flow but it suits my needs just fine.
And, of course, the house panther has already chewed on the new house plant so much that I had no choice but to move it from this corner already. It was nice while it lasted!
By the way, the flower pot is McCoy and the little stand is an old smoking stand. Both pieces came from the Logan Antique Mall, one of my favorite places to find hidden treasure.
In all, it turned out well and I’m pleased to have a space that feels special even on a regular old workday. It’s comfortable and feels a little like it has always been this way. I am not a fancy person but do appreciate the quiet luxury of pretty pictures on the wall, a great soaker tub after a long day, and powerful shower heads to wake me up in the morning!
Friends, while we may enjoy our adventures, it’s important to have a happy place to come home to. While I’m sad for what I’ve missed out on the world this summer, I’m so grateful to have this sanctuary to call my own.
This is a word I have thought about a lot lately. I’m trying to align how I spend my time with what I value. I’m trying to spend my money with companies whose values are similar to my own or at least whose values are things I can live with. I’m trying to be careful to not allow people whose opinions I do not value drag down my energy. I’m trying to question the true values of those who want something from me. I find that some people will manipulate you at every turn if they want your vote/money/help regardless of whose grandmother they have to sell to get their way.
Values matter.
This week, I took two very small actions to speak up for my values. Last night I went to Wheatberry Bookstore in downtown Chillicothe where I bought a couple of books. I’m calling them birthday gifts for myself because, as my mother would say, I need more books like I need another hole in my head.
This won’t stop me from buying them, mind you, but my birthday is coming and who can argue with presents?
Buying books is hardly an act of revolution but Wheatberry is a charming independent bookstore in a downtown where small businesses are suffering because of construction. Honestly, it isn’t nearly as bad as locals think it is and I had no trouble navigating where I needed to be.
If I want them to survive, I need to make sure I’m supporting them. Granted, my two book purchase won’t make that much of a difference but my two books and your two books and someone else’s two books will add up.
I value having a bookstore nearby and I value the programs, kids stuff, and community mindedness they bring to the table. Supporting authors is important to me as is making sure a variety of books are accessible locally.
I need to act like they matter.
The other thing I did was join in a chorus of voices expressing our dissatisfaction that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) was entertaining the idea gas powered boats should be allowed on Lake Hope.
In a busy, noisy and all together sometimes unpleasant world, Lake Hope is a last bastion of quiet and calm. I hike there. I know people who bird watch and pass the day floating around in their kayaks. I have sat near the shore reading and solving all the world’s problems beneath a peaceful autumn sky. The air is cleaner and the world feels lighter once your boots hit the trail at Lake Hope State Park.
I get irritated when people are hiking with loud music or let their kids scream like banshees on a forest trail. Yes, I sound like an old crank but that kind of noise scares away the wildlife and ruins the experience for everyone around. I certainly don’t want to listen to someone’s boat motor.
So I wrote a letter like many people and became part of a movement that forced ODNR to listen. A single voice might not have mattered but a lot of us together brought meaningful change.
Humans need a place where we can go for free and listen to the frogs, watch a squirrel scurry up a tree, and witness a turtle sunbathing on a half submerged log. We need a place to go where your only job is to enjoy the aroma of pine trees and the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot.
The wonderful thing about living in America is that we can make individual contributions that will matter. A single snowflake is hardly noticeable but put enough of them together and you might have a blizzard on your hands.
Contact your politicians. Stand up for what you know is right. Support the businesses you want to keep in your community. Get your friends to help too.
Exercise your right to free speech and stand up for what matters to you. Living your values is how things get done.
Editor’s Note: This piece was first published on September 22, 2024. Today seems like a good time to revisit it as a gentle nudge that patriotism can be found, not just in the fireworks, but in the quieter places too.
Silence is underrated. So is being in the presence of history. Once in a while, I’m fortunate to find myself in a place so heavy with significance that you can feel the sacredness vibrate through your body if you know how to listen for it in the silence.
I’m grateful that I appreciate these things and that I know how to wait for the vibrations.
Day two of our Philadelphia adventure was marvelously packed with all kinds of good things. Breakfast from a cute cafe around the corner, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross’ home, a ridiculously good lunch at an Irish Pub, shopping, and the list goes on. We really packed it in.
But at some point that day, we found ourselves having just escaped a chaotic place and standing on the sidewalk outside Christ Church.
This church was founded in 1695 and is the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church. This building was constructed in 1744 and the steeple was added ten years later thanks to a fundraiser organized by Benjamin Franklin.
Those founders of our nation who believed in the concept of separation of church and state? Many of them worshiped here.
George Washington, John Adams, Robert Morris (financier of the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution), Benjamin Rush (signer of the Declaration of Independence, members of the Continental Congress and many others prayed here, knelt here and sought spiritual guidance for the revolutionary ideas that helped to build a new nation.
It was five bucks to go in and look around. Ten for a guided tour. All the money goes back to the preservation of the property and they have done a great job at that.
Friends, I got to sit in the pew where Betsy Ross worshiped. I got to sit as the world went by around me and consider the perspective that she had on the world while she was quietly sewing her place into American history.
There were a few other visitors like us. My friend chatted with a volunteer. I sat quietly and soaked in my surroundings. I wasn’t interested in talking or learning. I didn’t want to make new friends. I wanted to just absorb the air around me, to feel the pew, to notice how the floor felt beneath my feet and to appreciate the soaring ceiling that reached toward the heavens.
It was the most peace I have felt in a long time and I was beyond grateful to have that experience.
We were preparing to leave when three women marched in the front door, past the sign with admission details and started past the young woman who was selling admission tickets. She was extremely polite as she welcomed the ladies and let them know there is a $5 admission. The women looked annoyed and one said “well, it isn’t worth that!” They turned and left without even saying thank you.
Don’t be those women. Be a nice visitor. Pay attention to your surroundings and at least be polite to the volunteers or the low paid service workers who are there to help. Honestly, the experience I had in that old church was worth more than the price of admission. Not to mention, it goes to a good cause. Imagine the weight of responsibility being caretakers for such an important piece of our nation’s history.
I walked away completely at peace, breathing better and feeling more equipped to take on the rest of the day. It was well worth the time and money to have such a close brush with our nation’s past on sacred ground. Worship in person or visit them online for information.
