Ordinary

Thursday, April 2, 2020

The word ‘ordinary’ originally came from the word that meant ‘orderliness’, or ‘having do with order’, so in this very ordinary photo- from our walk this morning – of very ordinary leaves and sticks and grasses,

perhaps there’s some concealed orderliness. Perhaps a kind of orderliness that I’m not familiar with lies hidden within the seeming confusion. Maybe an artist, by studying the photo closely, would see a pleasing pattern in the way everything is placed – or, I can imagine a small child squatting down beside the scattering of sticks and leaves and grasses and becoming utterly fascinated by the presentation. If an adult were to say that it’s all just ordinary stuff, I can hear the child replying, ‘Yes, but everything is in just its perfect place!’ It makes me wonder how often I miss seeing the orderliness, the secret tidiness, in the everyday and often seemingly disorganized occurrences in my life. Perhaps I need to sometimes act like I’m 8 instead of 78.

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