Can routine feel exciting?

reflections sparked by memes, a series

I think we all agree memes are amazing. They can be funny, witty, beautiful and incredibily relatable. But I have learnt they can also be quite profound.

A while ago, I was scrolling on instagram when I came across a meme that felt funny and also painfully resonant. I think I even sent it to a friend saying : “my life’s story”.

During my twenties, the word “routine” felt negative, soul killing and capitalist. I fought against it in every way possible. As soon as I finished my university studies in a city I never liked, I moved to a small coastal town pursuing a lifestyle I had always dreamed of. One where I wasn´t doing the same things, day after day, in auto mode. I was craving spontaneity, flexibility and expansiveness. For many years, I believed routine was the killer of excitement . I didn’t want anything to do with it.

So I travelled, oh did I travelled. I ran so far away from everything I knew. I was hungry for adventure, to feel free and do absolutely everything I wanted. After a whole life studying in school and then university, I could finally take back the reins of my life. And that, I thought back then, was a life with no routine.

But, as you grow older- and feel more comfortable in your body and choices- we change, or at least, we should.

My 30’s came with so many realizations and insights, I’m still blown away of how good this decade is. I’m half way through and I’m finally reaping what I sowed in my twenties and early thirties.

one of my favourite rituals while living in the Northern Rivers, Australia, was swimming in the sacred Indigenous waters of Tea Tree Lakes.

This didn’t come for free though. It’s been countless years of a very deep self exploration journey, plenty of mistakes, meeting my darkest demons and my most beautiful angels. It’s taken time, energy, money and tears. But I’m here, now, and I’m happy. I’ve nourished myself enough to face all the storms that are, undoubtedly, coming my way.

And the way I’ve nourished myself is through my twenties worst enemy: routine.

Life can be so ironical sometimes, right? What I used to despise, is now my rock. The roots of this tree, the pillars of this house. But I’ve renamed it: I like to think of these practices as rituals.

I think of rituals as a more intentional and embodied approach. Routine still feels structured and led by the mind, while rituals carry a deeper meaning- like they come from the heart.

And if one thing I’ve learnt is to prioritize heart over mind when it comes to taking care of myself. The heart works with your intuiton, your mind doesn’t.

I first noticed I was craving stability - and a sense of routine- while travelling. I had been backpacking for over a year and I was exhausted. I realized I was tired of moving, I had nothing left to feed the insatiable travel beast within me. I was so broken, even the adventure didn’t feel exciting anymore.

What excited me then, was staying put in one place. Have a proper wardrobe, discover my new favourite cafe and go every morning after a walk, cook my own food, exercise, have a job (shocking, I know), and have a perfectly mundane life.

I later understood that the biggest and deepest lessons come from stillness. But that’s another article on it’s own.

So that’s exactly what I did: I based myself somewhere, got a job, a beautiful house and built my new life from the ground up. I created my very own lifestyle, heavily influenced by the many rituals that make me feel like myself. I found so much pleasure in my daily habits, I could’t fathom a different life.

Until I got bored.

I used to get this meal once a week, usually on mondays, at my favourite cafe :)

After six years of a relatively unchanged routine, I felt stuck. The pieces that were suposed to be moving, weren’t. After thinking it through and through, I decided to make a bold move and feed the travel beast within me again. So I packed up my life and jumped. I started flying straight away.

But this time, I journeyed differently. I brought my routine -my rituals- with me. I moved between Chile and Europe for ten months before settling in Switzerland. I was travelling lightly, yet I felt beautifully grounded. And I’m wholeheartedly convinced it was thanks to my daily practices. I kept exercising, starting my day with tea, lighting incense and picking an oracle card whenever I felt I needed one. I finally found the sweet balance of a life in motion guided by my rituals. It didn’t have to be one or the other; but integrating these habits into my spontaneous, adventure-driven life.

So, to answer my own question: Can routine be exciting? Yes, it can. It should, at least. I’m currently living a life with so much movement. I spent a year in the swiss mountains, and I’m now in Chile for six months. Maybe trying New Zealand at the end of the year. It sounds exhilarating, but it can be disturbingly overwhelming. But it’s my sweet little rituals that keep my head clear and my heart open. And, why not, excited.