Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” has been rumbling around in my car for the past several weeks. Ethereal, out-there, reverb melodies echo. Lyrics seem odd to the casual ear turned only to the instrumental depiction of helicopters and clock alarms sounding.
The song, “Time” says, “ticking away the moments that make up a dull
day.” That phrase has been stuck in my head. Maybe it’s because we view much of
life’s routine as dull.
dull: not sharp, blunt, causing boredom, tedious, uninteresting, not
intense or lively, passionless, flat, stagnant, routine, usual
What makes up a dull day? The answer to that question is as broad as
the people you ask. For me, a dull day is a day without creative stimulus; for
others it might mean having to do the same repetitious routine they did the day
before and the day before that and so on ad finem.
When I looked dull up in The Thesaurus, words like common, usual, routine and ordinary came up, along with a slew of
others. Some caught my attention because they are words I defend, especially
common and ordinary.
Ordinary Time represents an ordered life where we aren’t feasting or
fasting, but living the common life set before us.
How do I stay faithful and relevant in the ordinary?
In the song, the writer found no inspiration in the routine –
even the sun or rain. It was all slipping away, even when running to catch the
sunset.
Dull is perceived. Everyday doings can be viewed as worthy stimulus or
tossed into the dull, mundane pile. Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, “An Altar in
the World,” has impacted my life. She speaks of finding enjoyment and the
greater good in all of our endeavors. Rather than simply looking at the task,
she asks questions like how does this action change me or others? Is it a way
of helping to make a better day for someone?
If I can keep my head wrapped around this perspective, then in theory
there should be no dull days. Now in reality, I live with dull just like
everyone else. I want to be enticed and entertained on some grand adventure. That
however would be the feasting part of Ordinary. And, it’s necessary to live the
regular, ordered, common life. If we didn’t, there’d be no meals and no clean
clothes. We’d be lost in our flat, one-dimensional, dull lives.
Living a common, generous life –
Missy
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