beauty in the mundane
doing things at my daughter's pace
I have been really into words lately, not just writing them, but almost fixating on them. Looking at how they are used, spelt and their meanings deeper than I usually would. I recently was staring at the word 'mundane’ it’s is often used in a negative context when I hear it. In my brain I have always digested it as similar to boring or repetitive. Here is the definition.
lacking interest or excitement, dull.
of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one.
I have been thinking lots about finding beauty in the simplicity of things. The everyday things. The worldly things. Having a baby makes me so aware of time, days passing, weeks, months and of course the big one, the years. Before I had my daughter I feel like I thought of life in half decades, and none seem to linger with fear as they passed quite like they do now that I am a mom. I have this new sense of appreciation for the worldly, everyday things, that I normally would be moving too fast to notice or appreciate.
My daughter is one, she is curious, walking and points at everything and says “hmm” in her cute little tone. I am doing everything in this slow, slowww rhythm right now and it makes me see the beauty in the most mundane things. We recently got home from being in a warm climate for a month, and before that it had mostly been relatively sunny. L has definitely been in the rain before, but never reacted or flinched. The first time we stepped outside into the rain, the week of our return she stuck out her hands and put her face to the sky and opened her mouth. I was in a bit of shock by how full human (and less baby) her reaction was. She was experiencing the rain for what seemed like the first time, and all of a sudden I felt like I was too. I took down my hood, and matched her reaction and felt so much appreciation for something that I normally find a lot of inconvenience in. This immediately brought me back to my childhood, where I was so free, and loved a little rom-com style dance in the rain.
Here’s a few things that have become a bit slower around here:
Walking up the two flights of stairs once we are in our front door. L climbs up them in her little bear suit, or rain suit and makes it about 3 steps before she finds something on the stairs, or looks back, or get’s distracted. Mundane things I see now, the way our window in the middle of the stairwell frames the most beautiful tree, giving my inspo for a future dream home, the details in the original wooden structure of the stairwell of our home from 1914. Makes me think of all the people who must have walked them.
Opening curtains, blinds, exposing any light. She lights up as much as the room does. Mundane things I see: the light hitting the walls and making shapes from the tree’s outside, shadows, the way the light feels or warms a room. L trying to touch shadows or catch light is the sweetest.
Emptying the dishwasher, already my least favourite task. I now take out all the sharp things from the bottom and leave only spoons and unbreakable items. L grabs each thing left and tries putting them together (spoon in a bowl or chopsticks knocking together) she then passes them to me one after another as I wait patiently to put them away. Mundane thing I notice: the he story around some of the items we have in our kitchen and where they came from. Learning patience, taking a moment, this always feels like a form of meditation, that I am resisting but need.
Not rushing bath time. Using her bath time for myself as well, this week we put rose petals in the bath and she loved picking them all up and passing them to me. Other days I’ve started using this time to sit by the tub and apply all that skincare that I have neglected, guasha or do a face mask. This also makes me feeling like I am working through all my old products and clearing some space. Doing skincare is basically decluttering right?
Sometimes this pace makes me feel guilt for all the items not being checked off my to do list. I am okay with half the to do list being the goal right now, half the texts gets a response and a whole of emails sent with the vibes of “I’m sorry for the late reply” which I have changed to “thank you for your patience” because honestly, I am not sorry for the late reply most of the time. I was busy with what matters most to me. For now her joy in the mundane is so raw, she will only be small this once. Just this one single time. And on days like today, a slow Sunday morning where she woke up and it seemed like she was looking at the world through slightly more grown eyes again,I feel like this pace is exactly how I am supposed to be moving.
Thank you for taking time to read, if you’re so inclined please like, share or comment as it helps me reach and connect with other’s in our community. x