"Do the day and let the day do you."

That quote in my title is from Stephen King’s character, Wireman, in Duma Key. I keep the quote near me and have been riffing on the idea for months.

I’m wondering, do you define what you’re doing according to what part of the day you’re in? Do your activities define your day, or does the day’s progression define your activities?

For me, generally the time of day defines what I’m doing. It’s morning? Oh, then I’m drinking Earl Grey and checking in on my e-comms. It’s 3pm? Oh, then I’m getting out that apple and soy cheese snack. It’s 9 pm? Oh, then I’m offline & catching up on the lives of my favorite TV characters. It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon? Oh, then I’m doing some kind of outdoors thing. It’s Wednesday noon? Oh, then I’m at my Strength n Stretch class.

I thought I preferred to “do the day”, not let the day do me. But I think the paragraph above says I’m actually letting the day do me?

I’ve recently realized I’ve become a creature of routines. Also that I like this. Routines are now comforting. Breaks in routines are becoming disturbing. I like predictability now. OMG! I never thought I’d get this way.

I wonder if this is another symptom of aging? If so, it’s not a bad thing, not when you get here and are “in it”.

I have another favorite quote: “Human being, not human doing.” [Rumi] Maybe I’m getting to understand it. That quote defines my goal for how I live, and routines certainly help me just ‘Be’. I guess a more advanced trick would be to learn to just Be when the routines are disturbed…. to be able to still stay in the moment, not Do anything about it, just “Do the day…”