take a different way home.
life is all about the detours.
A few years back, I was in a rut. Okay, well, not just a few years ago. I’ve been in many ruts many times in my life. We all have.
The daily grind of wake up, make coffee, walk the dog, pick up the dog’s poop, go home, poop yourself (I mean, you yourself need to poop, like, in a toilet, like, not “poop yourself”, as in your own pants, though if you do-do that, no judgment… see what I did there? “do-do”. As in #2. I’m so clever.), shower, work work work work all day, then errands, then home to cook, clean the house, freak out cuz taxes were due last week, ignore the laundry so you can have one hour to yourself and watch that new show on Netflix (that everyone says is good, but really it’s meh, but you watch it anyway, cuz you’re already there), and so on. It’s not only exhausting, but it feels like we’re rats in a maze.
It’s awful to feel stuck in a rut. Like once upon a time, we were that shiny glittery bowling ball raised into the air, held steady for two seconds in the hands of a pro bowler, ready to be tossed down that smooth wooden floor so that we can knock all those pins down, impress our friends, and get a strike to win all the points and take home the gold trophy!!!
…but instead, we go straight into the gutter, and now we’re just rolling forward towards… well, nothing.
It’s easy for your head to go to that place. But don’t. Do not get stuck in that headspace. It’s easy to do. I’ve done it many times. But lemme tell you something:
YOU ARE NOT A BOWLING BALL.
(#truefact)
As human-animal-people-type-creatures who can think, we get to make decisions. We can choose to stop rolling forward if it’s not working for us. If we’re in the gutter—in a rut—stop. Stop rolling. Just… stop. Take a moment for yourself. Take a deep breath. (One of those good ones, like a slow 1-2-3 inhale, and a slow 1-2-3 exhale. Maybe do a few of those.). Then ask yourself, how can I change things up?
I suggest a DETOUR.
A detour, by definition, is a “long or roundabout route that is taken to avoid something or to visit somewhere along the way”. Though I guess what I’m talking about isn’t a detour so much as it is a deviation. A departure from the norm.
Instead of taking the usual road home, take a different route.
Take the long way home.
Drive through a neighborhood you like.
Pull over, Spotify up your favorite album from high school, and sing your lil heart out. (Life hack: If you click on the song, Spotify will pull up info on the artist and the album, AND the lyrics for the current song playing. I like to read/sing at the top of my lungs in strange neighborhoods, often incurring the curious eyes of watchful locals to whom I wink at.)
Check out a local coffee shop and treat yourself to something that you usually wouldn’t order. (I like chai.)
Drive by a park you like. (Maybe stop and get out and sit on a park bench for ten minutes and just enjoy yourself, alone, among the trees.)
Stop at a cute bakery and pick up something lil for yourself or a loved one. (I have found that a single cookie—such as a snickerdoodle—is made romantic by putting a post it on it saying, “A snickerdoodle for my cute, little snickerdoodle” and leaving it somewhere for my partner to find.)
Go to your local indie bookstore—give yourself a budget of $25 bucks and 25 minutes—and just browse. (I love that word. Browse. Eye brows? Not so much. Eye brows are weird. Actually, they’re weirder if they’re not there. I like eye brows. Browse with your eyes under those brows.)
See a restaurant you drive by daily but have never been in but always wanted to check out? Go! Grab a seat at the bar, order yourself one happy hour drink, and check out the menu…. then order dinner to take home.
Or, perhaps one of my favorite things to do? GET LOST. Yup. You heard me right. I love to take a road I’ve never been on before. And then another and another and another. Mind you, I have my google maps OFF, so that I’m literally just completely present, trying to figure out after ten minutes of strange roads, just how the heck I’m going to get home without a map.
When things are changed, it gives you a moment to experience “the new”. Open your mind and heart to a new experience. Open your senses to something you didn’t expect to experience today:
See at the gardens in front of houses.
Smell the cooling summer air.
Feel the wind on your arms.
Listen to music that you stirs up feelings in your bones.
Taste the… um… oh. Sorry, I don’t have snacks in my car. But I guess you could taste the rainbow if you have Skittles. Oh wait! I have Altoids. Taste the Altoids! Mmmmm. Arctic peppermint! Frosty! :)
My point being, it’s easy to get stuck… but YOU DON’T HAVE TO STAY STUCK.
Make time today to get lost. After work. After school. After you put the kids to bed. (Make sure there’s a babysitter if necessary.)
Whatever you do, give yourself permission to not stress for half an hour.
You deserve it.
A cute lil laugh here:
You know I like a good laugh. And this one gave it to me, especially cuz I used to work at Scholastic, and those were the doors I walked through in the opening bit. Watch this SNL FUNNY.
Aight folks. Keeping it quick today. I got books to write. Hope this finds you well. Sending you all hugs. XOXO
