@ Liz – Slow travel… mm, I find it delicious .

@ Reese – Thank *you* for inspiring this whole post! I think asking the right questions is half the difficulty, so it’s amazing when someone else is asking those questions .

@ Matthew – Sometimes I feel like the only way to ‘revive’ my writing is to shift my mindset toward my writing. Reminding myself that the blog isn’t a chore, for example, or thinking of how I can use my writing to explore a separate interest…

@ Paul – It’s funny how we so often hesitate to make those “leaps”, and then every time we wonder why we hesitated… such is our nature .

@ Dave – Love that simple little exercise. I’m going to try that out.

@ B – How cool… that’s a lovely example. Hope it’s unfolding wonderfully for you!

In college I used to change the room around about every two months . . . just to invigorate studying. And that silly little activity worked.

One of my favorite exercises is to sit still for five minutes and try to identify all of the sounds that one can hear – that heretofore the brain is filtering. Makes me remember how much there is around (all of the time) that is new and unexplored.
.-= Dave Thurston´s last blog ..Red&Gray – A Getaway =-.

Even when the opportunity presents itself, we do not opt for better; we opt for quick, for easy, for familiar. It’s so much less bother – bit.ly/qtsDt

But occsionally, just occasionally, we do make that leap! And wonder why we never made it previously! Thank goodness that such chances exist in the world and can be taken by the adventurous and the brave.

Your question, “when does the remarkable become familiar?” really answers itself.

Things are remarkable, when we feel the need to remark on them – either to ourselves or to others.

When we cease to remark on them then, by definition, they have become unremarkable – familiar. It would be unusual, if not disturbing, for a husband to awake and say to his wife, “Hello, what are you doing here?” However, for him to say how much he appreciates having her with him every day – that shows he still finds it remarkable and worthy of genuine gratitude.

I’m always discovering new things in Guelph…even when I get bored, I know there’s still something out there for me to see (even though I’m sure it’s not nearly as interesting as Thailand could be).

Since I’ve gotten sick of writing how I used to, it’s been a struggle trying to figure out what else could invigorate me the way that did…hopefully I find it soon.
.-= Matthew Dryden´s last blog ..Our Little Secret =-.

A few years ago, if you would have told me I’d be living abroad, doing my own thing, ignoring most of the media, and forgoing a white picket fence life for the life I lead now, I would have said “get out!”

Then I went through this wild, huge life change…and for a while it felt so big and remarkable. The remarkable then became the ‘norm.’ Sometimes I try to see my location through my family’s eyes, and I remember how big a change I made.

Sometimes we need to step back and see ourselves from a distanced perspective to appreciate the remarkable things we’ve already done.

You nailed it when you said we don’t need to necessarily move or GO to keep experiencing the remarkable in life. And I really identified with this feeling of the honeymoon being over…so now what? It’s lead me lately to dig deep and start deciding what really matters to me. What stirs my soul? Is there a way I can make a profound difference in this world?

What you’re doing, and the way you’re changing the world is remarkable and inspiring.

Frankly, I think Life at all is remarkable. Perfect in every moment. So to discriminate between remarkable and comfortable to me seems a fruitless discussion of semantics and perception. Every moment is life changing. In fact, I’ve come to think there is no such thing as change, as every moment is new. But again, semantics.

As far as comfort. You take comfort in remarkable. Plain and simple. The quote seems to give comfort a connotation of boring, stale, repetitive, and familiar means “it’s been done”. I’d say, as every moment is new, it’s never been done, this time. This time. This time. This time.

Peace.
@vinylart
.-= Daniel Edlen´s last blog ..Led Zeppelin Vinyl Art Timelapse =-.