I dropped by my sisters house the other day with my daughter to return a plant pot. She had given me a jade plant in an a pretty old floral pot with the notice to return the pot if I replanted it. She favours the old pot. My brother in law teased that I would want to replace it with a nice grey pot. And he was right. I did.
When we went in he had on a tweed sports jacket. My daughter said ,"Where are you going?" I knew the answer.
He said, " We dress for dinner."
She said, "Aww that's so nice."
My sister said, "I am not dressed yet, as she was in her comfy clothes."
And they do dress for dinner and have for years.
They dress nicely for dinner each evening, no matter what they are eating, no matter if there is no one coming. They dress for themselves and for each other. They dress to celebrate dinner.
My friend up the street sets the table nicely every night. She lays a placemat, silverware and a nice glass every evening. If you drop in there around four you'll see it all set and ready to go.
What is beautiful about both these things is that they elevate the ordinary. They celebrate the ordinary.
Thinking about this today it brings me to the question. What in my own life could I lift a little? What is my own life could I add to just a bit so that it would become routinely nicer. What should I celebrate a little more?
Perhaps some white lights on my barn to light the winter nights? Perhaps setting my own table? Perhaps a little primping before dinner? I don't know. What works for one does not always work for the other. But there are definitely things I can do more nicely. There are definitely ways I can add a bit more beauty too. For there is never too much beauty.
I like the idea of elevating the moment, or the day so that it becomes more beautiful. It is part of creating beauty everyday. It is part of taking your own life and making it special. And that is what we are meant to do. We are meant to make our life our own, to make it identifiably ours, to make it especially for us, and of course for those we love.
So I will keep my heart open to this idea, the idea of elevating the ordinary. The idea that we can do little things to make something special.
One of my favorite quotes is from the song writer Warren Zevon. It is simply this, "Enjoy every sandwich."
Thank you for listening, for reading and for being part of the studio community.
