[Where Were You] When Everything Was Fine

The power of routine is two-fold. It can sustain us through the darkest of times, or it can darken our eyes into believing we are either stuck or have to hustle through the ‘musts’ in order to get to something worthwhile. The kind of power routine holds in or on our lives exposes itself when the ability to keep it disintegrates in an explosion of disaster, or whatever feels like a complete upheaval of all things normal.

Routine goes beyond what we do and into how we think and perceive: this is how the world is; this is who I am; this is what’s important; this is what’s possible; this is what’s not possible; this is the law and it cannot change because it is the only way the world can function.

Que explosion.

How intriguing it is to watch black and white soften into gray when given the proper motivation. It begs the question of certainty and loosens the leash on curiosity.

Who drew your world map? Who benefits from the adherence of its directions? Who loses when you go beyond the impossible? Who wins?

Whether through disaster or a subtle development of discomfort, there comes a point in which we realize we’ve entered into a functioning we did not purposefully or at least consciously create. It’s in this realization we face decision: submit to the laws of the land we’ve always known, or defy the certainty of routine for the sake of life beyond function and into true values and purpose.

Example: large-scale crisis seem to bring forth a sudden sense of communal justice, compassion, and generosity as if those things were less important before. Who decided those who have been suffering for generations just now deserve to be cared for? We did. Not because their worth magically increased but because crisis interrupted our routine and gave us the opportunity to live out justice, compassion, and generosity as if it were in our means...because it is, and always has been.

Opportunity is in every mess. Every moment on our way somewhere is an entire time in itself. We can wait out disaster with our fingers crossed our ships will stay on course. Or, we can face ourselves and our paths to determine whether or not the laws we abide by serve the values and purpose we have chosen, not the ones we accidentally stepped into.

You are the author of your story. You are the lawmaker of your life.