Happy Halloween!

It’s been ages since I sat home in the morning and got my writing in. Usually I’m overwhelmed with things that need to get accomplished; going to the gym, getting errands done, sending emails, making phone calls… just a total time crunch before having to head to jiujitsu.

NOT TODAY MOTHER FUCKERS.

Today, today is a day where it’s all switched around. There’s too much chaos (or just enough?) in the evening to keep the routine. FINALLY, we can break free a little bit. A Monday that is not truly a Monday, but a Monday where absolutely no one is thinking of their school work, their actual work…kids are excited about going out all evening to get candy in their cute AF outfits. Older kids are thinking about dressing up, being anonymous, and causing a bit of ruckus… hopefully not too malicious. Eggs and toilet paper really never hurt anyone though. Unless you wipe too much…in which case a single-ply TP is your most feared enemy. Older teens and DINKs (double income no kids) are planning to spend some time together with their better halves while watching a scary movie or 2, eating some junk food, and embracing the “scared” feeling while cuddling under a blanket.

Freedom from the routine is something I’ve been personally craving for the past couple weeks. There’s been looming depression, angst, and irritation from doing the “same ol’ same ol'” to the point that nothing felt like a surprise. Surprises in life are what makes life feel like it’s actually worth living, if you ask me. The excitement of something randomly happening keeps it interesting. We can find little shifts and shocks within the daily routine, and we grow from the daily routine, but you can get lulled to sleep if you can’t mix it up every now and then.

Is this a lack of being grateful for what we have? Is it because we’re ungrateful for the routine, for the precious activities we get to do each day, for the security of the day-in-day-out events that we just become plain bored of it? Or do we just need to add some spice to our meals every now and then to remind us that those tastebuds exist? If the meal is always flavored the same, are we still able to appreciate it? When Taco Tuesday comes around, are you going to take some hot sauce and season one of those tacos making it the one that will force sweat from your pores, tears from your eyes, and fire from your ass? Or are you going to add the same ol’ same ol’ sauce you always add? Ooooor are you going to rebel and say, “NO!” to Taco Tuesday… and move it to Thursday to stick with the alliteration ? Or will you just eat a taco whenever you goddamned feel like it?

What if Taco Tuesday rolls around and you actually would rather sushi? Can it be sushi Tuesday? Are you obligated to the alliteration of Taco Tuesday (or Thursday)? Can you go on a hunger strike in rebellion of the Taco Tuesday? Or do you shut the fuck up and eat your tacos because you’re just grateful that some gave enough of a shit about you to make a taco for you?

That’s a real struggle. There’s always going to be a sense of gratefulness that someone cared enough about you to do something. That’s always going to be there and if it’s not… develop it immediately. But the truth be told, sometimes we get addicted to our routines. Whether this be a coffee order, a pizza order, or a morning routine…we can become like OCD assholes that need to have it a certain way. Why? Perhaps this is one of the few things that we can find solace and comfort in. When you’re an emotional mess, or the world is falling apart, or you’re just not having the greatest day… a coffee order done right brings a joy that can’t compare. Maybe we’ve figured out the right order for what we’re looking for when we have coffee, pizza, etc. that when it’s not to our standards we wished that we had done it ourselves? If we don’t get through our morning routine or it gets shaken up for whatever reason, it fucks us up for the rest of the day because of how we needed to prime ourselves for the day. I just wanted to stretch, for fucks sake!

What a paradox… We can simultaneously be tired of the “same ol’ same ol'” but then be thrown off when something isn’t the “same ol’ same ol’.”

Huh…

So is it a change of surroundings that we seek? Is it a change of atmosphere and the people within it? Is it that we seek for more out of life…like the book we read or movie we watch where the main character goes on a journey that forces him to experience more. Through that he grows into a new person. He grows into a human that has greater perspective. He grows into a human that has new stories to tell after they defeated their foes. He grows into a character that has.…more character.

This Halloween, this Monday, won’t be the biggest change of routines. It won’t be some grand adventure that, when we return home, we’ll have stories of how we defeated the dragon and took his golden egg. We won’t travel to unknown territories. We won’t sail the seven seas. We won’t have a journey that lasts months or years until we return home. We won’t meet new characters that teach us the ways of their people. We won’t dance with wolves.

BUT…we won’t be in the normal routine either. We’ll try some new food. We’ll take a long walk down a mall we haven’t walked in years. We’ll spend our Monday night together NOT in a jiujitsu uniform. We’ll watch her favorite movie on a big screen, which neither of us have ever done. We’ll pretend that, for one night, our routine is totally irrelevant to our lives and we can be lost in the miniuature adventure of doing something different for a night.

Then Tuesday will roll around and we’ll have to get back to normal. But hey…at least we’ll be one day closer to the weekend. And eat a ton of tacos.