The Opposite of Routine

The end of summer is just over the horizon – and perhaps I’m speaking too soon – but I had a pretty dull season. Now, I’m certain there are plenty of people who find their own lives boring. I mean, how many times have you heard a conversation similar like this?

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing. You?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, no news is good news, right?”

It’s easy to fall into a routine. At least, I’m definitely guilty of this. (I am a girl who thrives on schedules, after all.) But the last straw of enduring another monotonous day occurred this weekend when I was trying to come up with a topic for this blog post.

In the last two weeks, I managed to finish Scythe by Neal Shusterman (which I started reading in July; the society within the novel was so fascinating) and then finished reading a novella. I didn’t do any writing because I decided to take a break from my July marathon, but I have been contemplating about editing/rewriting a NaNo 2016 story. And then I created more vocab cards.

After I looked at my dismal list of activities, I decided that enough was enough. If my brother could spend three days in Alabama last week for work, and if my sister could fly down to Florida yesterday for the next six days to see a friend, why couldn’t I partake in some kind of fun adventure, too? I don’t need to wait around for a friend or family member to have a free day; there’s nothing wrong with taking a trip somewhere on my own.

Therefore, I woke up earlier than usual yesterday and took a drive. I was only an hour away from home (no out-of-state activities, unfortunately), but I hadn’t been at the establishment since I was in junior high.

On my day off, dedicated to doing fun stuff, I decided to go...

…visit an outdoor museum.

(I’m such a nerd.)

I acquired so much trivia knowledge during my journey around the village. Like how apples originally came from Europe. Or how Heinz first bottled horseradish, not ketchup. Or that Daniel Webster only included one word of his own creation into his dictionary: demoralize.

Of course, as a writer, being immersed in a historic “community” made me wonder what kind of stories I could pull from this site. I mean, the world-building was already done for me as I wandered around the various time periods. There were even actors who roamed the streets, dressed in the proper attire from the late 1800s.

What I found amusing, though, was that by the end of the day, a couple of the museum guides began to recognize me. Turns out, when you walk around by yourself and only have the attendants to keep you company as you tour the houses, they remember. Some of the workers rotate to different exhibits later in the day and I’d show up at their new stations.

Needless to say, I broke the monotony of what could have been a typical Wednesday. I left the house and did something! (Running errands doesn’t count.) And now you (the reader) can get a slight break from reading a blog post of mine that doesn’t pertain to books or the act of writing. Look at me, breaking free from more routine-like stuff!

Of course, I could always loop my experience yesterday back to crafting stories, but I’ll spare you this one time. I’m sure you’re smart enough to reach your own conclusions.

All in all, sometimes I just need to go on a little adventure or try something new. It’s easy to become so wrapped up in my bubble of everyday responsibilities that I can forget how interesting the world is. So much information to uncover and places to see.

…I just wish I was more willing to plan these explorations earlier in the summer. Before I know it, it’s going to get cold here in Michigan.