Beauty in the Mundane
I recently had the privilege of spending two weeks in Europe—the trip of a lifetime—with my husband and our two dear friends.
In spite of the magical experiences we’d created, by the last few days of the trip, I felt an impending sense of dread creeping up on me. A magnified version of the “Sunday Scaries” whispered that all the fun would soon be replaced with perpetual cycles of emails and dishes and laundry.
And yet, despite the fear of the mundane, a piece of me still longed for home.
I realized the very beauty and adventure of travel—finding places and experiences different from home—are also the very things that makes me long for the familiar by the end of a tip.
Constant adventure and change are thrilling but unsustainable as a way of life (for me, anyway). I guess travel has a way of restoring the ordinary beauty of my everyday life.
Things so easily taken for granted—sleeping in my own bed, showering in my own shower, speaking a commonly understood language, and living in my own little daily routines—take on their own sort of magic when I return from that which is different.
Upon coming home, the mundane I escaped from contains a familiar and comforting sort of charm.
Now, that’s not to say everything about home must return to exactly the way it was before. Travel also exposes ways I could adjust my rhythms for more enjoyment so life doesn’t feel like an exhausting drive towards needing another break.
The rest and beauty offered by traveling to other places can be incorporated (albeit in different ways) into my ordinary:
I can intentionally create more space in my life for quiet, stillness, and rest.
I can cultivate adventure by seeing new places and trying new things in my own city.
I can pause to appreciate the beauty all around me: in my neighborhood, city, and state.
Coming home from vacation doesn’t need to mean turning off my sense of wonder or my experience of peace. It isn’t a mandate to be numb to good and beautiful things in the pursuit of doing more.
Travel teaches me to appreciate my abundance and shift towards a slower, more joyful life—one day at a time.
