Daily routine

Since I last checked in, the fallow period I mentioned has blossomed into a very busy time indeed. I was lately reading an essay by Herman Hesse, wherein he speaks of that desire for refuge, a place to be at peace. It doesn't end as you would expect; in fact he rejects the idea completely, saying, in essence that this desire for a calm and quiet place is actually a destructive force in his life.

Still thinking about the ramifications of that; a refuge, a quiet place, has long been a dream of mine as well- and an elusive one.

There are now times, though, in my daily routine, when I find a moment of calm, and I'll let you in on them. First, the half hour I spend in my bed, ostensibly meditating, but really just thinking, and following my thoughts. I feel nonetheless that it is a better way to start one's day than jumping right out of bed (a habit that I had almost all my adult life).

Then, I spend a half hour with a coffee or two, writing pages in a journal. Now that the internet has been a major distraction, it is hard to just focus on that one activity, but once I do, I find it flowing, and eventually a kind of calm sets in, and I don't want to stop writing. But I do, when it feels right, and get on with my day.

It's not a refuge, but a routine; one that I have come to value and miss if by chance I don't get to do it that day.

I'm enjoying cleaning the kitchen too... my Mother, wherever she is, would be gobsmacked.

These three things are comforting, and I guess make me feel grounded in a way I haven't felt often in my life. What comfort do you, Dear Reader, find in routine?