{I've ordered you a coffee, why not stay a while?}
This is one of those weeks when I wish I could invite all you blogging friends around for coffee. We'd sink into big, comfy couches and chat about our lives, our goals, and our dreams.
Life has been pretty routine around here. Each morning I sit down in my studio and work on illustrations for a picture book that will come out next year (yay!). Then I eat a small lunch, usually left-overs from yesterday's dinner. After a short break, I go back to work in my studio. By late afternoon I'm ready for a coffee or hot-chocolate, and some quiet time with a book or your wonderful blogs.
Is there any individual moment of these routine days worth recording? The days are a little like the leafless trees of winter. There are all sorts of colours and variations of texture if you look closely, but the outlines and structure are pretty simple.
I think it's these routine days that build our dreams.
It's the perseverance to keep working; to keep showing up at the drawing board; to not give up; and when things go wrong, to start all over again.
Routines are wonderful, because then showing up isn't a choice, it's a habit. It's not something you have to decide on every morning when you wake up, it's just something you do.
Gradually, after days and days, all those dreams will start to become a reality. It's like dropping pebbles one by one into a lake. At first it feels hopeless because the pebbles sink below the water and seem to disappear; but they don't. Each time you drop a pebble into the water, small ripples expand over the surface, touching everyone you know. Your small routines, your daily pebbles, are part of the essential fabric of this world.
Eventually, if you keep dropping pebbles every day, the underwater pile will grow large enough to form an island on which you can stand firmly. Then, you can plant your flag and say, "This, finally, is what I've been working towards for so long."
What are we building with our daily routines, dropping pebbles one by one into the lake? Maybe a career, a blog, a marriage, a family, a healthy body.... ?
I would love to know what you're working towards!
And, if you want a little diversion, here's an aria from J.S. Bach's "Coffee Cantata" where the soprano rhapsodies about her overwhelming love for coffee.
