Still ordinary

I’ve had a blog over twenty years. Here on WordPress, this one has been in existence since 1999! But I had begun a year or two before that using the Blogger platform (which I did not like one bit, so switched). Early on I decided my sub-title would most appropriately be, “photo journal observing an ordinary life in a beautiful world.”

I’ve always known that it was the so-called ‘ordinary’ things in life that I was most drawn to whether to photograph or to feed my soul. Being a life-long observer I’ve noticed that all kinds of bloggers and writers are jumping on the “ordinary” or “ordinary life” bandwagon. So what is spurring this trend? Is it the isolation that began with the pandemic causing people to reflect? Is it all the rage and hate pooling on social media? Is it the frustration of an ever-complicated world of expectations? Or, is it all of them and then some?

I certainly don’t have the answer to those questions. One thing that is very apparent is that there is a band wagon out there that a whole lot of people are jumping or climbing onto and it’s called ‘the ordinary.’ I’m pleased so many are also discovering the beauty and serenity in the ordinary.

The thing I am certain of, or perhaps I should say that I continue to be certain of, is that the ordinary has always and continues to feed my soul.

Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself.

William Martin, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents