“Be daring, be different, be impractical; be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. Routines have their purposes but the merely routine is the hidden enemy of high art.” Cecil Beaton
Yesterday at MOPS, we were talking about living a “Wow Life” – finding cures, solving world problems, being bigger than the ordinary. The reality is that our days can be mundane – making breakfast, reading Quick as a Cricket again, watching Daniel Tiger, shoving cleaning, reading, and rest into nap time.
I think it can be easy to categorize the mundane as a stay at home mom problem, but really, I fought the mundane long before Bea entered the picture. As a teacher, I got bogged down in just teaching second grade, in just teaching in the United States, in just… It can be so easy and comfortable to fall into a complacent routine. And, as Beaton notes, routines have their place.
What I’m grappling with these days is the merely routine. How do I create routines that give comfort and expectation without complacency? How do I embrace the known while continually keeping an eye on the unknown? How do I teach Bea to go out on fantastic adventures, knowing that home will be a safe constant?
I want to live a daring life, but I am gradually redefining what daring means in this stage. For some, daring means packing up, moving away, living grand adventures. For others, daring means moving across town. For me, daring means finding the confidence to embrace this phase in life – however mundane it looks from the outside, knowing that I am part of something greater, something far more daring than I can see today.
How do you embrace the daring adventure in your life?
Linked with Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday, a time to write without editing.
Annie Rim 
Annie,
Your space here is so inviting and I almost feel like we are friends. The quote to start your post anchors your reflection and gives power to your words. As I was reading, I was reminded of this video I watched yesterday, as Shauna Niequist empowers women to never put their callings on hold. It seems to me, this is the grit you have — living as both a mom and a woman of God who changes the world. Here is the link to the video: http://qideas.org/videos/what-i-learned-from-my-mother/.
Ruth
Welcome, Ruth! What a compliment – I’m so glad you feel at home here. 🙂 Just watched the video (hooray nap time!!) Wow. So empowering. Thank you for sharing it – I’ll definitely be watching it again!
Annie, I love what your Daring looks like. Embracing what others consider mundane, and doing so because you see the greater purpose? Daring and beautiful. And I’ll bet some people will envy you, secretly. 🙂 Keep pressing on!
I embrace the daring adventures of mothering and writing carefully. Making sure my kids know they are first in my life (after Jesus and my husband) is important. Not working outside the home has some in my life stymied. How could I ever find contentment in that?! But, God fulfills me as I walk on His paths. Writing, stepping back from other activities, confuses some of my friends. But that’s okay. I believe I’m where God wants me to be. And that’s the best place to be daring. 🙂
I know, in this age of “leaning in” to careers (which I think is awesome, as well!!) it is confusing why one would choose the mundane of staying home… I think this is the most important, though: Believing this is where God wants me. I’m learning to listen and be grateful for that confirmation.