Witness 03: Notes on the Everydayness of Life

The things that remind us of home.

A QUIET JOY
FROM YOU

Every night before bed, I look forward to my morning bowl of Lizi’s granola; with berries, yoghurt, and peanut butter (elite combination). I have perfected the bowl over 8 years, I even bring a packet in my suitcase when I'm away. My mum, who passed away recently, would text me ‘Lizi’s and yog?’ before I visited. So, now it tastes like home. It’s also a perfect late night snack after the pub! The only thing better than making it in the morning is when it’s brought to me in bed! Joy.

Caitlin, London

---

---

A REFLECTION FROM ME

I'm writing this while tucking into a glorious bowl of Lizi's Passion Fruit & Pistachio granola; to get into character, of course. This email is giving… ‘sponsored’, but I promise you it's not, Lizi (if there is even a Lizi), did not pay for my breakfast in bed. 

There's often a tendency to dramatise joy. To make joy feel like a scene in a musical, where one minute you're taking the bins out and the next you're part of a flash mob wearing sequin pants. Joy can often feel out of reach, often on the other side of the ordinary stuff. That we have to receive it. That our joy is only one surprise email or call away. When the beauty and accessibility of joy is that it exists in the ordinary. 

Why do such simple things like a bowl of nutty granola give us so much pleasure? Maybe, it's because they are reminders. Reminders of people we love. Reminders of precious moments in our lives that live on in our cells. Reminders of home. Reminders of what it means to be human. 

We spend most of our time here, going from task to task, friend to friend, meal to meal, job to job. Leaving the house. Coming back to the house. We're just in our days and routines, going about it, seeing what life has to offer. The very nature of our existence is in the everyday, the ordinary, the stuff that we label as mundane.

Then we have these moments. Moments that are almost like birthday cakes. The moments we don't get very often. These extraordinary things that happen to us, that mean a whole lot. The stuff we're often waiting for, hoping for, get excited for. The birthday cakes. Why do you think bucket lists exist? We love a big moment.

Inevitably, just as life is pretty boring without cake, we spend a lot of energy in expectation for the loud joys. So much so, that we can forget to pay attention to the quiet ones. The ones that exist every single day. 

The joys that remind us of why we're here. The things that we look forward to each morning. They make the everydayness of this life so magical. They ask us to pay attention. To notice the beauty that exists between each breath that we take. We might only get one birthday cake each year, but every single moment is an opportunity for joy. Also, just buy a whole cake on like a dreary little Monday. As my catchphrase goes, ‘you’re an adult, you can do what you want'. 

Our perspective is what gets us into these joys. It's in us making a note of these micro moments of pleasure and being audaciously present as we experience them. Savouring every morsel of life. 

Because, it's never just a bowl of granola, is it.
It's a reminder of something so much bigger than us. 

It's a reminder that we're here. 

---

4 Little Practices For…
QUIET REBELLION

GO…
On a solo date in the next two weeks, no excuses.
Find a date in your calendar right now. It need not be fancy. Just intentional time.

REFLECT…
On the phrase ‘guilty pleasure’ and explore in your journal or mind, what your relationship is to it. See if there's any self-judgements you're carrying.

READ…
Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention by Johann Hari.
A powerful reminder that not everything is a ‘you’ problem. 
It may well be systemic.

SET…
A timer for 7 minutes, when you can, and just rest. 
Do nothing. Don't overcomplicate it. Lie down or sit down. Just be.