Sometimes mundane situations feel remarkably exceptional to me.
Like when I’m taking a shower. I call it having an Ibiza moment because that’s exactly what being on vacation on the Spanish island used to feel like. I would come back from the beach, sticky from the ocean and the sand, and my skin hot and itchy from having a liiiittle bit too much sun for the day. I’d step in the shower, and the water would soothe the itch and the burn, and wash away the clamminess. All the while the air would be filled with the rich summer scent of salt and suntan lotion.
Sigh …
Or when I am driving up the Santa Rosa Mountains. It almost always feels just like the very first time I drove up there many, many years ago. I relive the excitement of seeing the beautiful nature, and I savor the steering wheel in my hands following each curve of the winding road.
Sigh ..
And then there are the windy days. They make me feel like I’m in Denmark. The weather can be pretty rough in the north – perfect conditions to “wind” down. The storms never failed to blow away the most stubborn tension. And now, whenever my desert home gets hit by high winds, I get hit by the same sense of calm and ease.
Sigh …
Whether I am standing in the kitchen washing dishes or sitting at my desk filing papers, I keep having these extraordinary ordinary moments. Most of the time they are accompanied by a memory. For example, how happy I was filing papers at one of my first jobs.
That made me wonder: Have I been reminded or did I remember?
Like the chicken and the egg causality dilemma. Which came first? Did filing papers remind me of the past and how much I enjoyed my job, and the memory made me enjoy filing papers in the present? Or was I already quite content, which caused me to remember a similar pleasant situation?
The next time I had an extraordinary-ordinary moment I put it to the test.
I had been highly focused on the task at hand, alert and observant. After a while I noticed how good I felt with what I was doing. Then I realized: “I know that feeling. I’ve felt that way before! When was that?” And that’s when my mind conjured up images of past delights. Not the other way around.
Maybe this is how mundane moments become exceptional. Just being with the steering wheel, and the papers, and the dishes, and the soothing shower. Giving it my full attention and taking it in with all my senses. And then what otherwise would have been an ordinary experience can turn into a pretty special one.
Brigitte Schneider
aka Ms. Here and Now
P.S.: In this spirit, I look forward to having an extraordinarily ordinary festive holiday season. 😉
Copyright © 2022, Brigitte Schneider. If you wish to quote text from this article contact the author by leaving a comment.
