A PERFECT DAY

"Something to Think About" mini books

 This year is going by in a flash. Mid April and we've passed Tax Day. I look back through my calendar and wonder where the time went. I was already thinking about what makes a day meaningful and not just another hurried day, when I came across a question in an article in Uppercase, a creativity magazine produced by Janine Vangool, a woman from Canada. The magazine is full of creative ideas and one, this question, asked,

"What would be a perfect day?"

The question made me pause. I started to make a list: exploring with my husband Bill, sitting in a cafe with him, getting together with our son and his girlfriend, walking along the Embaracadero's part of the Bay Trail in the quieter spaces there, being with friends, taking workshops, exercising, writing, sketching in my art journal, taking a ferry boat ride. As the list grew longer and longer, I recalled the time during the Pandemic when we had to give up physical contact with friends and didn't travel, and I found to my surprise, that in giving up activities that I liked to do, I found Time. I found time to concentrate on creative projects that I didn't leave myself time to do when I was rushing around trying to fill each minute of the day with interesting experiences. Bill and I had more time together than we ever had before, which deepened a relationship that had flourished since college. Zoom contacts with friends and our weekly outdoor meet-ups with neighbors sitting six feet apart kept the connections that we needed. I found time to think through creative projects, problems, and ideas. By the end of the Pandemic, Time had give me a chance to explore and develop my creativity in a way that I had never given myself the chance to do. A year and a half long retreat from the world.

A quote from Erling Kagge's book, Silence In the Age of Noise:
 "Silence is about rediscovering through pausing the things that bring us joy."

I looked at my growing list and realized that each item could be a perfect day all by itself. How wonderful it is to spend a full day with friends. How delightful it is to look at Bill with fresh eyes over coffee or to walk with him in new places now that we have moved to San Francisco. How meaningful to find a place that is quiet amidst the hurley-burley cacophony of a city. How energizing it is to work on a project where my mind is focused on the possibilities of creating. I could fill up a year with "Perfect Days" but also could savor the perfect, small moments within an ordinary day that bring me inspiration, awe, and gratitude. With all the hardships that the Pandemic caused all of us, I owe the Pandemic for this new-found understanding of living life to the fullest.

I am glad I found the article about the perfect day. It reminded me to slow down, filter out too many possibilities, and treasure the odd moments as well as the days.

"We will imagine infinity."

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Thank you to all of you readers of my blog. 

April 2026 marks the twelve full year of posting Postcards in the Air.