The Commoners

I was on my way home from work last night and I spotted a young lady sitting on a wall bordering her dimly lit veranda; she was staring at the front door and though I couldn't vividly see her face within 5 seconds into my observation she used her sleeves to wipe her cheeks and I concluded she was crying. Another 5 seconds later, a very bubbly young lady exited the front door to greet the first young lady that was crying. This second lady was vibrant, loud and just filled with laughter, unsurprisingly this led to her crying friend chuckling despite the feeling of sadness. It made me realised how common of a thing it is for our life or better yet mood to change in half a minute because of a friend or anyone enthusiastic enough to pick us up when sinking deep into the dark hole of glumness. And though that joy may be short lived due to how overwhelming the depth of our sorrow may be, it's a matter of practising how to find a modicum of joy everyday - mind over matter as some would say.

I continued walking and around 10 seconds later I spotted a cat coming towards me, he or she realised that we would eventually come face to face so they scurried off the pavement into the nearest yard. In that moment I realised how common that action is for cats. Then I started to take a look at my surroundings, this route I'm taking home wasn't a version of my norm a few months ago but it's now entered my list of 'commons'. The areas I pass through when transporting from A to B is now my new norm! This simply made me realise how quickly our norms could change. It also made me take heed of how many things we overlook due to concentrating solely on the shortcomings or benefits of these new norms. Also, how many blessings we lose sight of because of the white noise or to put it more bluntly the usual calm or storm that is tied to our environments. There's a bit of good in every bad, it just takes awhile to grasp that and then a while longer to see just how much good.

I reached 'home' shortly after that feline uneventful fiasco and realised instantly how much that noun has changed in its definition and significance within my life. 'Home'. The word always held a temporary meaning to me, mostly due to moving around more times than vagrants and lacking a connection with sentimentality. Whenever I ended up in a place I'd refer to as home, I always knew the day would come to leave, therefore I try to make the most of a situation. I tend to wonder if I'm making the most of my current situation - I mean I've always wanted to live in Philadelphia but I spend far more time working, blindly victimized by my work norms, than I do touring the city and enjoying its beauty and diving into the unusual, spontaneous essence it has to offer in order to really shape my future. I guess I really crave a deep dive into the city's mystique. Am I truly living? That's the question a lot of us workaholics really want to know right? I think the answer our soul gives everytime is pretty common but that's sadly one more commonality we ignore.

Through this revelation I've noticed it's become quite common to live in the epicenter of normality not really acknowledging how restrictive it is. We have so many excuses or 'reasons' if that's the word you feel more comfortable using to mask the truth as to why we continue to just follow our normal routines but let's be honest we can find an hour or two a week to indulge in the unknown, feed our souls anything but the 'commonalities of our life' to at least feel slightly rejuvenated or enlightened by something unthinkable, unforeseen or just culturally or spiritually eye opening. Don't we deserve that treat - DON'T YOU!?!