What Did I Learn Today?

As always, I'm searching for a return to my blog and recently have been re-inspired to write by a few friends' blogs, as well as (sadly) the movie Julie and Julia. I'm eager to write, but feel as if I have no real purpose in writing any more. One colleague suggested I start blogging an "Idea a Day," thinking that my head is filled with all kinds of crazy ideas, but honestly I'm a bit intimidated by such a mission and afraid that it will prove I'm just as unoriginal and uncreative as I often fear. And I realize that what makes blogging great is not necessarily grand purpose, but is rather the acute attention to the mundane details of everyday life, but even then I feel like the minutia of my everyday life holds nothing for you, my loyal followers (and by loyal followers, I of course mean, Mom).

But it dawned on me just now that there is a way to frame the minutia that provides some direction and context -- answering the question, "What did I learn today?" A friend asks me that question every night, half in jest, half in earnest, and I always manage to come up with something, whether or not it's a life changing revelation. And generally it's the latter of those two options. Regardless of complexity, humor or innovation, we all tend to learn something every day; it could be about ourselves, other people, business strategies, or plant fertilizing, but every day seems to teach us at least one thing. If I ever reach a point where I cease to learn something every day, then it might just be time to call it quits and hike it up a mountain to meditate for a few years.

So thus begins my return to purposeful blogging - What did i learn today? By Meghan O. Mahoney.

Today, since I spent so much time introducing the theme, I suppose I'll start small.

What I learned on January 14, 2010:
Today I learned that I can have a completely fulfilling day before the clock even strikes 9 am. OK ok. So we all already knew this, but today reconfirmed it. I went on a gorgeous run around both the pond and arboretum. While it hurt the legs a bit, the bitter cold created a serene stillness in the air that made the run seem somehow lengthy in a surprisingly good way for a run. It was literally as if I was the only thing moving in a landscape frozen in time, the only sound coming from my feet crunching against the hardened snow. From an intensely deep blue, the sky changed to a bright, energizing day by the time I was home. After a hot shower, and a few minutes back underneath my covers just for the hell of it, I headed out to make a stop at City Feed for tea and a scone on my way to work....

It is here that I'd like to say my story ends. Besides some additional face time with my favorite people, and perhaps some reading in front of a fire place, I'd pretty much call this the perfect day...and it was only 8:30. I know a lot of people say they work for a sense of fulfillment, but really I think I'd be ok as a kept woman. Yep...running, dozing, teaing, reading - they're about all I need. Work is good and all and fills me with some sense of completion and accomplishment, but to be brutally honest, my a.m. routine is A OK with me.