Routines. I love a good routine. I enjoy setting schedules, building good habits, anchoring my life in events that insure I will see people I like, get exercise, learn new things and otherwise take action that makes me happy. For those kinds of routines, I’m very, very grateful.
On Tuesdays, I travel to the city each week to visit one of my clients. It’s a nice routine: a mile walk to the train, an easy ride to San Fran and then a hop on the muni. I schedule meetings to move my projects along, gather information and see colleagues I need to collaborate with, and hobnob with the hipsters in the big city. Then, I’m off for home. There’s something comforting about knowing that’s what I do on Tuesdays. It’s blocked off. That day is set. That’s especially nice when the rest of my work week schedule varies pretty wildly. But on Tuesday, I know where I’ll be. It’s soothing.
Routines aren’t meant to last forever. That leads me to my next topic for today which is the Renaissance or a renaissance, more aptly. Not following the dots? Stick with me folks!
Continuing across the spectrum from chaos to routine, you move from routine into a rut, then a valley, and then comes a dead-end. That’s when a renaissance or rebirth comes in handy — when the possibility of creating something new offers hope. It’s available to us all and for that I’m grateful.
A quick refresher from history class: The Renaissance (French for “rebirth”) was the period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages (~1300-1500AD). Characterized by a surge in interest in classical scholarship and wisdom after a long period of cultural stagnation, the Renaissance witnessed the exploration of new continents, enormous advances in science, the decline of the feudal system and the birth of powerful innovations like paper, printing, and gunpowder. Most notably, the Renaissance launched an explosion in art expressing a new confidence in the possibilities of human thought and creation, exemplified by the Renaissance masters like Botticelli, Raphael, Titian and, of course, Michelangelo.
Some days my life needs a renaissance — a rebirth of new possibilities, the belief in what’s not yet come. Many days lately, I think our bigger world needs a rebirth, characterized not by fear and doubt but by fundamentals that lifted humanity from the Dark Ages:
- A positive willingness to learn and explore
- Desire to understand and master science and the natural world
- A faith in the nobility of man
It worked 500 years ago, why not today? I’ll leave you to ponder that along with my favorite fresco from the Sistine Chapel — The Creation of Adam.
When I can’t always see it in life, here I can clearly see the hand of God.
Boonedoggler 