The Ordinary & the Everyday.

My dad hates dandelions. And I don't get it. He will plant yellow Mums of all sorts around his property, but he gets so angry when these sweet little yellow dandelions pop up all over his yard. Dandelions are free and abundant, therefore they are ordinary, unimportant and a nuisance. To him, dandelions are ugly and Mums (remarkably similar to the look of dandelions) are beautiful.

He also hates squirrels. They are everywhere in his yard ... and they are always "stealing" the food that he leaves out for the other animals ... the more scarce creatures like bears and ravens. Squirrels are ordinary. Bears and ravens are extraordinary.

On the other hand, I love dandelions popping up throughout my grassy yard. They are free, they are pretty and they are reliable. In fact, you can even eat the greens of their leaves or use them to make dandelion wine. And squirrels, heck... they can be endlessly entertaining. They, too, are "free", pretty and reliable. They can be found wherever there are trees. Maybe they are ordinary ... and maybe I like ordinary.

Show me something that makes frequent, pleasant and reliable appearances in my world, and I will show you something that I understand, love and appreciate. I hope.

The tender kiss my husband places on my cheek every morning before he leaves for work, the way the sunlight comes through my windows and warms my home, the way the birds flutter around my yard and dodge to and fro to avoid my rambunctious dog, the daily phone calls from my Mom and best-friend, the way my son dances around my living room as a daily ritual ... these are all the ordinary ... and the oh-so-extraordinary everyday occurrences of my life. And I strive to better appreciate them.

Soule Mama and her friend Jessie Fields have decided to take a photographic journey through their everyday lives. And I have decided to join them. They have titled their project: 30 Days of the Everyday. I am excited to join in this exercise of seeing my daily life in a different way ... and appreciating all the beauty contained within my everyday, ordinary, and oh-so-extraordinary life.

Perhaps you would like to join us as well?

Here is wishing you a day filled with all that you love --- may you better appreciate the beauty in your "everyday".

Love,

Jodi