The simple and the familiar

Mother Nature has her own rhythm. The universe is unfolding as it should. The sun rises, day dawns, the sun sets, the moon rises, the tides change, stars twinkle and night arrives. The cycle keeps repeating – there is a comfort in this rhythm, in this routine; whatever be our problem, we believe that a new day will bring new hope and light into our lives.

While this is the global rhythm, each of us also has an everyday rhythm. Things that are familiar and keep repeating in our everyday routine. Things that we consciously or unconsciously look for, and derive comfort from.

It can be the gentle thud of the newspaper hitting your porch, or the old man who walks around the area below your home every morning. It can be the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning, or the way a particular bird visits the tree near your house at precisely the same time every morning.

It can be the woman with the red handbag, whom you meet on the train every morning or the security guard who  shouts out a cheery hello when you leave the building everyday.

It can be a tilted roadsign, or a curve in the road. It can be that cheerful little cottage on the way to your office or the noisy bunch of teenagers who board the train everyday.

It can be the way the office smells when you sit at your desk. It can be that blank feeling as you wait for your laptop to boot for the day.

It can be the familiarity of walking down with your colleagues for lunch, or walking back to work with a cup of your favourite coffee.

These are the small everyday things that give shape and structure to our day. When things are not going too well, these familiar tasks and sights give us something to hold on to.

Simple, familiar things.

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