The Routine

There is something cathartic about a consistent routine.  I’ve got my consistent places I like to go, consistent morning routine and consistent daily schedule.

And then, that routine got totally tossed out  the window 3 months ago.

What had been a consistent hum of weekend routines, evening routines, knowing what to expect, knowing what was coming for almost 7 years–all came crashing down and was stripped away.

No more routine.

I was scared to death of losing that routine as it always kept me in balance and in check.  In some ways, I wasn’t sure if the implosion of the routine made me more sad than the implosion of the relationship and how it happened.

Last night, I came home after an awesome evening at an Arts/Theater/Speaking thing downtown and in the middle of my “evening routine”, I realized just how cathartic and comforting the “new routine” was.  Something along the lines of “walk in the door, put down the bag, open the door for the dogs, put phone on charger, feed the dogs, turn on ESPN, grab the firewood basket and go out back to bring in wood, rebuild the fire, sit down on the couch and hang with the dogs.”

It’s a pretty solid routine that plays out any time I walk in the door after 6PM, which is pretty often these days.

It’s been an odd few months, but I’m pretty thrilled with the new routine and whom I’ve been able to surround myself with for that routine.  This new routine, as random and all over the place it is, is defining what’s important in life once again…family/friends/dogs/work/love/play/dreams.