The art of the everyday
There’s something about the way a day begins, that decides everything.
The first sip of something warm, or cold, the light through the window and the way I move without thinking. I didn’t always notice these things, but now I look for them.
I started to notice the beauty in the small, repetitive moments in my everyday life. Was it intentional? Or did it happen slowly?
For some context and an example, my mornings start the same with coffee with milk and two egg sandwiches. Some days I even add vanilla powder and chocolate sauce, because why the hell not? This is a breakfast routine that I’ve had for multiple years. Repetitive? Yes. But it’s my way of peacefully starting my mornings and days. They’re intentional to me and I’ve surprisingly never gotten bored of it. The whole process of making my breakfast at my own pace grounds me and prepares me for my day, whether I have various plans, a place to be or not. Although I use instant coffee, the scent of it in the morning tickles the shit out of my sensors to the point where I’m starting to question why I ever quit smoking.
As a teenager, there was this rebellion within me to reject routines. Which was quite strange since I did desire a form of routine. But at that age, and the way one used to take most things so damn literally, it didn’t dawn on me that I could create my own routines. I insisted on doing things my way than whatever way was expected by the grownups. Little did I know that my sense of daily rebellion was also due to my packed 6th house in Sagittarius.
So, as I grew older, I started to develop and own my daily habits. Calling them rituals as I grew even older to where I am today and will continue to do so.
My rituals consist of everything that makes me ‘me’ and adds to my life and joy. Its listening to instrumental blues once or twice a week in the morning while drinking my coffee, watching bodycam videos on Youtube with lit candles to wind down before bedtime while having a glass of red wine, listening to my favourite 90’s songs on Sundays that I associate with that day of the week (always starting and ending with Easy by Commodores, a song famously covered by Faith No More in 1992). My ritual regarding my weekly hair care routine, weekly meditation and scalp-scratching-and-mic-scratching ASMR before bedtime once a week, splurging on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream while watching The Simpsons, spending time with and going through most of (if not all) the literature that I own. Feeling the covers and pages, being happy for the little girl within me who couldn’t wait to grow up and have a bookcase filled with books and allow herself to be a nerd in the comfort of her own and in her own home. It’s also lighting a lavender sandalwood incense while writing and cursing in my book of negativity… to name a few. Beauty in the everyday and purposeful actions.
They keep me inspired, sensual and calm. They bring me back to myself and keep me sane, forever continuing to fill my self-love cup. I don’t repeat my days for the most part since I crave freedom and flexibility in my day to day, but I do experience them and within that experience, I cherish them greatly. So Venusian!
I never overlook the ordinary. Instead, I invite them into my world and turn them into something of my own. And I also never ignore whatever I might feel in the morning. I never fake any form of happiness to fit a mental aesthetic and/or expectation to carry with me through the day. I embrace every emotion I wake up with and allow myself to feel everything.
Romanticizing my life and daily routines and rituals is an action I’ve never been able to escape. It gives me so much! Things that I can’t really describe. It’s just… there. Making complete sense to me. It’s truly something as small and simple as adding vanilla sugar/powder in my coffee in the morning, because why wouldn’t I add some sweetness to the beginning of my day and at the start of my morning? Who is stopping me from doing it except for myself?
It often comes down to the mindset. Some people don’t think that they have the funds for it in the sense that they have to spend a lot of money or even sadly, that they don’t deserve it for whatever reason, which is so damn sad because who lied to you? I hope that the person(s) that made you feel selfish or even ashamed never gets to taste a glass of refreshing water at the perfect temperature when they’re thirsty. You absolutely deserve it and it’s up to you to decide what your rituals and routines should and will consist of. They exist to make YOU content and happy; to bring YOU joy to your everyday life no matter how much.
It could be something as simple as masturbating on a weekday instead of only during the weekends, creating your own affirmations and repeating them for yourself first thing in the morning, in the shower or right before you fall asleep or buying flowers to yourself every month, even if its only one because you can’t afford ten or a dozen. And that’s okay! Create a cozy and beautiful environment for yourself and create something that makes you excited for the everyday.
