Writing is the best method of time-travel I know.

I look at this little snippet, typed on the first of February on purple paper in a moment of pure happiness, and I return to that snowy day with the kittens flying up the stairs and a stack of good books to enjoy.

Ordinary days are perilously easy to overlook, and yet what treasures they hold.

I like to make notes because it helps me to pay attention to what is happening around me, and honestly, I love to pay attention. Noticing is a great pleasure for me.

If you are someone who loves pens and notebooks and typewriters as I do, you probably also make notes. If you’re not, the voice recorder on your phone is perfect for this. It’s fun to hit record and start with, “I want to remember…” or “I just noticed…” and off you go. Then, a few months from now or even years, you listen to yourself and feel the pleasure of meeting yourself in that moment. “That was my life,” you might think to yourself. “That’s the life I was living.”

I’ve been thinking lately how deeply we are taught to desire what is impressive and important and what a mirage all of that really is. We somehow imbibe the idea that life must be grand in order to “count,” and that we ourselves are not sufficient until someone else gives us an award or a raise, asks for an autograph, or swoons with envy or desire. Only then can we count ourselves successful and worthy.

And yet, I see again and again in my own life that the spikes of excitement that come with winning or being chosen are very short-lived. It’s wonderful to win, to be given a prize or recognition, to finally get that thing you wanted, and it’s a gift. But it’s not the source of lasting happiness. That’s found in the ordinary days of coming in from the cold to the smell of cooking, or sliding into your flannel sheets, or admiring your kittens curled up together, or sitting down at the piano after supper and improvising a jig. No prizes needed. Even with worries or pressures, these moments of comfort and love knit together our hearts. They are the substance of our lives.

Life is sweet for the most part with some big ups and some big downs. Perhaps you might like to make a few notes in your own way about what ordinary life is like for you in 2025. If you do, you may read them somewhere down the road and think, “What a blessed time that was. And now that I think of it – so is this!”