oh, the joy

As the sun sets, we transform the chaotic nature of our days, into a perfectly wrapped gift. Logging off, shutting down a laptop, or returning home from a cold, nearly frightful journey through traffic; we retreat to a sanctuary. I’ve romanticized the view from mine. A neighboring high rise with mismatched lights from one angle and from the other, a sea of bare and clean trees, which bring the promise of springtime. It’s a shared scene with the other tenants and I hope they sit and admire it as often as I do. The curious, individualistic lives we lead are more similar than we’d like to imagine. Some may ask the universal question of “What’s for dinner?” While others may be tackling their workout begrudgingly or staring blindly at the work they have to complete. Yet, amongst this shared existence, the quiet, oftentimes inconsequential moments are the ones that make our days most unique.

Knowing the other residents in my building have a similar routine to their day is endearing. Beginning with the sound of an alarm, a rush for our poison to perk us up, and a commute of some form, we start our day with science. We are engineered to follow the schedule that precedes us Monday through Friday and infrequently do we stray from the perfect practice. It’s not until our agenda has finished that we can reveal the artist within us. Glasses of wine flowing, noses buried within books, the whirring of sewing machines, and even the clanking of a spatula in a pan unleashes the emotional palette we all have; full of colors and brushes of all kinds, with a million shades.

And some days, we can only paint one color. Responsibilities, unforeseen problems, and mentally-taxing circumstances impede on the limitless present. The fragility of time becomes dismissed. Complacency settles in comfortably. The view from my balcony no longer ignites optimism from the rebirth of spring, nor reminds me of the intricate lives that the mismatched lights represent. Too often, our methodical thought processes during the day cloud and dampen our ability to activate the intrinsic essences that wait within us. We fall into the trap of monotony and create a habit, one that excludes the art of living.