Refresh

I have said it before but I am a creature of habit. I have a morning routine where I get up each morning and immediately go to my kitchen to start my coffee pot. Quite honestly, no one should probably talk to me until I have had my coffee. I listen to the percolating coffee, where the hiss and tinkle of the coffee maker is like music to my ears. I then pull out my favorite mug that is brown with white polka dots and pour myself a plentiful cup of coffee. I then sit on my lovely cream colored couch in front of my computer and press the refresh button. Sometimes I push it multiple times because I have no patience, but with just a small click everything is renewed and my day is updated- NY times style. Quite honestly sometimes I wish I had a refresh button for real life. I feel like it is so easy to get in a rut these days where we get in these habits of just going through the motions. Where my days begin to resemble one another and all you really want is a small reminder of the beauty and richness of life. All I need is a breath of fresh air.

Refresh. I can think of a ton of things that make me feel refreshed like eating citrus fruit, breathing in frigid cold air, siestas, and baking cookies are great examples. Yet, I think we are much more influenced by our surroundings- the people, places, and things of everyday life. Thus, my purpose is to let you know that even thought our lives can feel and seem so mundane, I believe that there is spice to life scattered all around us. We just have to be open enough to experiences and people around us to find it.

I really have no idea what my deal has been lately, I just really haven't been myself. This being said I will have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when someone was interested in spending the evening with me. The truth was that I didn't know him very well, to be honest he was somewhat of a mystery to me. Thus I was delighted when he suggested we should go to First Friday, which is where all the art galleries downtown open up for public viewing (I highly encourage everyone to check this out). My next favorite part about the evening is that he had nothing else planned after the art show. I know this would make some of you extremely uncomfortable, not knowing what to expect or what was coming next, but I loved it. Being somewhat of a free spirit, It was so refreshing not to have a mandated schedule dictating my life. We agreed to having drinks at one of my favorite restaurants in town.

Perhaps it was the libations, or the dark rustic atmosphere, but this is where I started to feel rejuvenated. It is so refreshing to talk to someone who embodies the characteristics of life that you believe so deeply. Perhaps I had been focusing on my future to much, that I forgot about how much I love the present. It was in the next hour that I watched this man sitting in front of me transform me and remind me of what I love in life. I love beauty, spontaneity, honesty, and depth. I have been on dates where people tell me about their luxury apts, their awesome new car, and which business they want to own next. If I would have had one of those cartoon bubbles that people get to have when they are in comic strips on these dates mine would have said " I want to slit my wrists." Yet, the conversation with my mystery man was rich in depth, and perhaps my favorite moment of the night was when he told me how he discovered he was color blind. Afterwards, I then asked him curiously, "What color are my eyes?" he responded, "um. .. green?"

If you don't know me, I have bright blue eyes. I felt like in that moment he had turned on a light bulb for me. He had reminded me that most of life is how we perceive things. We both can find the same things innately beautiful, even though he sees it slightly differently than me. This was so beautiful to me. Most of my life I have heard that my eyes are my greatest asset because I have brown hair and blue eyes, which is somewhat rare. Yet, he sees me entirely differently than the rest. His interest in me doesn't even include my eyes. The one thing that I believe is pretty about myself, he doesn't even see.

Unknowingly he had just pressed my personal refresh button. I felt as if I was seeing the world differently in the vibrant colors that I had been missing due to all the weight of my daily stresses and worry. Thus I encourage you this week to surround yourself with people who make you see things in a different light, go to places that energize you, and embrace spontaneity because life is too short to just go through the motions.