Day 106: Day In The Life No. 1
Good Morning! Today I would like to take you along with me to explore how a Day In The Life looks for me. From dawn to dusk I'll bring you along with photos and videos from all my adventures.
This morning started just a little bit before eight a.m. It is a beautiful, clear day already with temperatures rising from the chill of the night into more bearable degrees. Every morning without fail I begin with a hot cup of tea, almost always Yorkshire Gold which is a highly caffeinated black tea.
Once I have my tea I begin my morning routine. I start with reading my Bible and my daily devotional which really puts me in the right headspace in order to face whatever the day may bring. A goal for 2020 is to read a nonfiction book every month so after I have my God time I read eight pages from my current book. I'm reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and would highly recommend it to everyone. My favorite line from today is this, "One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called habit stacking."
After I read I move on to practicing creativity. I believe creativity is a skill that can be honed and developed by anyone. It isn't just for a lucky few. This is why I made it a goal of mine to come up with a photo idea every morning. This little act of creativity jump starts my day in a way that focuses on my passion.
This morning I jumped around a little more than usual and spent some time talking with a my mom between practicing creativity and journaling. Journaling is another important area in my life because it gives me time to process everything I am going through and experiencing. My journal is my most loyal and dependable friend and it provides such relief to spill black ink over pages and pages.
My morning routine ends with going over my to do's for the day and checking my email. I make it a priority to respond as quickly as possible to any emails I may receive, which is why I check it almost first thing. Usually I try and stay off of my phone until 11 a.m. however, because I am doing my Day In The Life on my Instagram story I had to bend that habit a little bit.
Approaching midday, I began working on this particular blog post before turning my attention toward writing the caption for my newest image. I shot this image in two parts, the background I took in early September and character I took a few days ago. This is the first image I have created this year and I could not be more excited about sharing it. I do, however, have mixed feelings about it. I love it so much, but I am incredibly heartbroken every time I look at it which I will explain in more detail in tomorrow's blog post.
When I had finished writing the caption and decided on a name for the photo, I spent a little time writing down my thoughts about this new photo. It's part of a photo series I am doing called Fragments of Decay and I find recording my thoughts about this series to be a vital part of the process.
Noon came and went with the arrival of a new planner which I had been looking forward to getting for quite some time. The Elegant Excellence 2020 goal journal was something I learned about through Instagram and I am so excited to explore it even further in the coming days. I really hope it helps me accomplish all the plans I have for this year.
I got ready for the day and left the house with my mom. Our first stop was a cute little antique store in search of a ring. I had this idea to get a ring at the beginning of each new year to symbolize my word of the year, that way anytime I saw the ring I would be reminded my word. Unfortunately I didn't find any ring that fit.
We ran an errand at Hobby Lobby and I managed to find a set of rings there, however, I have discovered that plastic rings do not sit well with my hands. They ended up feeling quite uncomfortable and were rubbing my fingers raw. So, I am in search of the perfect ring.
Ever since I was two years old I have been dancing and yesterday was the very first class of the year. It is now business as usual, so my sister and I teach a class to about twelve five year olds before I take my 2.5 hour ballet class. I have no idea what I would do without some sort of dance in my life. It has made me who I a and I love it so much. (Also I got coffee and cookies from Fresh Market, a must to make any day better).
After dance, I came home and spent some time talking to a long distance friend on FaceTime. Making time for friends is always an incredibly important priority, they are by far one of the most important aspects of our life. Neglecting a friend is one of my greatest fears so I truly try and and be as committed to them as possible.
My night routine looks a lot like my morning routine. I wash my face, tidy my room, and jump in bed. From there I take time to go over my to do's for the day and write out the to do's for tomorrow, while looking over my goals for the week and month. With that out of the way I spend some time writing in my journal before spending more quiet time in God's Word. When I have finished all of this it is time to call it a night.
From 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 that night I was constantly going. I want to thank you for following along with me today, it has been quite fun sharing the behind the scenes of my life. I feel like we so often hide behind a curtain and it is important to embrace vulnerability and show others what real life looks like.
Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt