Ordinary Days

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

One day last week, I sat in my yellow chair in the corner facing two windows and watched birds dip and dive into the tree in the center of our driveway. Now that tree stands bare, its leaves beginning their slow movement from decoration to nourishment. These days are the tail end of ordinary time and they feel both ordinary and portentous. In two and a half weeks, Advent arrives — and with it, the new church year.

I’ve been thinking about the habits that shape and form my ordinary life. I find it helpful to look up from my rhythms every now and then and see if they are serving me well.

What things are shaping your ordinary life right now? What everyday beauty do you see outside your window?

Ordinary Habit 1: A Paper Planner

I’ve used a digital calendar for around fifteen years. I started with Cozi on the recommendation of a friend. I loved that I could color code by family member and it would even send a “here’s what’s coming this week” email to my family members. (Did they read that email? Maybe. Maybe not.) But there’s something about writing things out by hand — and crossing things off my handwritten list — that is both satisfying and organizing for my brain.

I’ve tried several different methods and tools and have finally settled on a planner I love. It’s made by Appointed, the creators of my favorite journal. I love that it’s wire bound - to hold my favorite pen and open all the way up for my left-handed self. I love the weight of the paper - thick enough that my pen never bleeds through. I love the variety of colors so I can change the color by year. Finally, I love layout which offers enough space for me under each day and room to list my to-dos for the week.

Each weekend, I open my digital calendar and my planner. I write out what the next week holds and my tasks and priorities for the week. If I know what I’m cooking that week, I go ahead and write in what and when I’ll cook - now that our children are mostly gone, I cook dinner two or three times weekly instead of every night.

If I’m meeting with someone, I bring my planner along and take notes in it. That way I can find them by knowing the date we met. If I have an event weeks in the future that will require follow up, I paper clip the reminder into that future week.

It may seem archaic to rely on a paper planner, but I like the way a physical calendar and writing in it ground me to the work I’m doing, which is often intangible. In some small way, a paper planner helps me be present in my daily life.

What tools do you use to make your daily life easier?

Ordinary Habit 2: Coffee, Sacred Space & A Journal

I vary what I use for my own spiritual nourishment, but currently I’m back to using Sacred Space by the Irish Jesuits. I love that it has everything I need in it, including scripture for the day. I love its invitational format and that the language it uses is Ignatian.

Most mornings, I make my coffee and head to my yellow chair for some time with Sacred Space and my journal. A few years ago, I began journaling in cursive rather than print. It slowed me down in the best way to return to writing in a less familiar style. Over time, its become a more fluid practice and a new gift has been that my journals actually look pretty inside. I’m a big believer that writing with pen and paper does different things in our brains than typing on a keyboard. Spending a few minutes daily with Jesus and my journal is a foundation I missed when our house was loud, chaotic and unpredictable during renovation.

What habits help you start your day? Where is the beauty in the habit?

Ordinary Habit 3: New York Times Games

I love a good word game and the NYT has the best word games. I’m not sure whether I should actually encourage others to partake in this habit of mine, but a part of me hopes that daily games like these are keeping my mind healthy. Since menopause, I’ve been able to feel my mind slow down. I don’t enjoy that, so games like these make me feel like I’m at least attempting to keep my grey matter pliable.

How do you incorporate play into your daily life?

Habits I’m Longing For

Some habits I’d like to create or resume are: weekly hikes to get in touch with nature and my body, grocery shopping on a consistent day of the week, midweek mass or something similar and praying midday prayer. Most of these are habits I’ve held previously, but my life changed and I let the habit fall to the wayside. May I find the energy and wherewithal to bring them back.

What habits do you long for? Where is that longing pointing you?

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Book Corner:
What I’ve Been Reading Lately

via library loan:
The Everlasting by Alix Harrow
The Everlasting is part fairy-tale, part adventure, part time travel and full love story. I loved Una and Owen and the world Harrow created for them. The writing and world-building are beautiful. This book reminded me a bit of The Bear and the Nightingale or The Time Traveler’s Wife. If you’re a fan of adult fairy tales that speak truth about our current world, this is a book to read.

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
The Impossible Fortune is another great entry in the Thursday Murder Club series. It was nice to be back with the gang and tackling another mystery. My only small complaint is there wasn’t enough time with Bogden and Donna… but perhaps the extra time with Kendrick made up for it? If you’re a fan of this series, this one will delight you as much as the previous novels.

via personal library:
The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
I’m just starting this one, but when is it not great to be in Three Pines with Gamache & Co?

via audiobook:
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz
Confederates in the Attic taught me that there’s more nuance to Civil War enthusiasts than I previously thought. This book, published in the late 1990s, shows the seeds for Christian Nationalism that have borne such fetid fruit today. The book ends without certainty that we can live as one nation, reconciled as fellow citizen. I’m curious to listen to Horwitz’s follow up to this book, Spying on the South. What did he make of things by its publication twenty years later?

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May the habits of your ordinary life make room to notice the beauty surrounding us.

Peace & Grace,
Shannon