A perfect year consists of perfect days.
So what does a perfect day look like?
Don’t trip on the word perfect. I know it’s a loaded word these days, and the words unrealistic and perfectionist almost always greet it. But I like the word, the ideal, and just because one strives towards excellence doesn’t mean one can’t handle the inevitability of upsets. Sometimes when we think about perfect, we only think about removing imperfections. But why define perfection based on negative space? Perfection doesn’t have to be the absence of anything that goes wrong, it can mean simply mean moments of absolute wonderfulness.
Back to my question, what does a perfect day look like?
Only on my birthday do I ever think to create a perfect day for myself. The 364 other days I spend meeting my responsibilities and taking care of my family. I sneak in me time in the unpredictable corners of here-and-there and now-and-again.
But for my birthday, I take control. I book a pedicure, have a party, jog, and escape to a coffee shop to write for a few hours. This year my birthday prompted me to live all in. I want one of those loud, passionate lives. It got me thinking,
Why don’t I treat everyday like it’s my birthday?
Of course, I won’t receive material gifts on a daily basis (aw, shucks), but after I quickly jotted down what my perfect day looks like, it didn’t seem unrealistic at all.
My Perfect Day
1. Meditation
2. Exercise
3. Connect with nature
4. A beauty ritual
5. Good food
6. Time alone
7. Writing
8. Time with my beloveds
9. Connect with the arts
10. A clean, beautiful space
This recipe for a perfect day can be cultivated into normal life. A single jog meets three items on the list (nature, exercise, time alone). My beauty ritual can be a morning scrub, a salt glow, a candlelit bath. Connecting with arts can be really listening to good music, reading literature, or looking at a painting in my home or a public sculpture I may pass running errands.
I’ve been living my perfect life for a few months now, and let me tell you, it’s great! Not only am I conscious of taking care of myself, I am also more keenly aware of how beautiful my life already is. It can be easy to be caught up in what goes wrong, but when I see that I got to have a perfect day in the midst of whatever chaotic storm blows my way, I remember an essential life truth:
Everything is already ok.
In fact, it’s perfect.
Try it out yourself.
Write down a list of things your perfect day consists of, then make it happen.
Every. Single. Day.
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