Yesterday, I had a conversation with a dear friend about wearing 5 inch stiletto heels in Manhattan. Now, I’m usually wearing the same pair of multipurpose orthopedic walking boots wherever I go- if you know me in person, you’ve definitely seen me in them. I’ll wear them to a Broadway show, out running errands, or to a bar in Brooklyn. It’s not that I never put on a pair of heels…but it’s rare. It’s definitely not my normal. But, wearing stilettos is my friend’s normal, and that’s perfectly alright. We just have different definitions of A Normal Day on this particular subject. For her, wearing a nice pair of heels is the standard- and for me, wearing a pair of multipurpose walking shoes the go to choice.
This got me thinking about A Normal Day on a much bigger level. How do you define a normal day? We all have the ability to make several hundred choices between the time we wake up and the time we go to sleep. Many of them are just second nature, and are things we don’t even think much about anymore. I, for instance, usually wake up around 8:30AM if I’m working from home. This leaves me with enough time to make some coffee and oatmeal, and still start working on my business or correspondence by around 9AM. My normal NEVER involves setting a 6AM alarm- but maybe I’d get a lot more done if it did!
Today, I invite you to think about some of the choices you don’t even think about- some of the things that happen in your life on autopilot, because they’re so ingrained in your “normal” routine. Do you normally watch an hour of TV? Do you normally play candy crush on the subway? Do you normally get to the gym, or normally not? I’m not asking you, or even inviting you, to make any changes to the “Normal” today- I’m just asking you to think about it. Are you happy with what’s “Normal” on a day to day basis? Are there ways in which “Normal” could be better?
Also, try thinking about what your “Normal” is from a larger perspective. I think as artists, a lot of us have an idea that “Normal” always involves struggling financially. Or that “Normal” always involves hustling for the next gig. Or working three, four, or five random part time jobs just to continue to act, or dance, or photograph, or write. What if it didn’t?