I have three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Long name for a small dog. I adore them of course, but three dogs equals three dogs. Three bowls of food, three baths, three leashes to handle on a walk. You get the picture.

Their most coveted moment is when I allow them on the bed. They all curl up around me despite the vast expanse of the King size mattress. It reminds me of people at a party who gather in the kitchen, no matter how big the house might be.

What I notice lately is how much my dogs operate from habit, from the minute I open the door to the laundry room in the morning, until the moment it closes, some fourteen hours later for sleep. All three pile out and run down the stairs. All three spin in circles as I fill the bowls with the food. (Sometimes they stand on their feet like circus animals.) Then, all three chow down and run to roll on the carpet. Wash, rinse, repeat, every day.

It dawned on me the other day as I was watching this performance that I am really no different. I sleep on the same side of the bed, brush my teeth first thing, get dressed, let the dogs out and begin the same routine as yesterday, and the day before that. And so on. It includes making my tea, walking the dogs, eating much the same food. Some days I bounce on my rebounder, others I walk. But, all in all, the routine is similar and I mindlessly adhere to it expectantly like my dogs.

Routine is good for some things but post mid-life upheaval it’s probably worthwhile to change things up a bit and sprout a few new neurons up in the gray matter. In light of this, I have been experimenting with doing as many things as I can in entirely different ways. I am intrigued by what I am noticing in this very unscientific process of discovery:

Doing things differently makes the world seem different. More exciting, and less like a repetitive, Groundhog Day nightmare, or daymare.

I started small.

Changing up the side of the bed where I slumber. I felt a bit lost at first over on the left side of the bed. I woke up in the middle of the mattress.

Putting on my pants, left leg first. This was oddly uncomfortable and I fell over a couple of times.

I started talking in the phone with my left ear and noticed I have to listen more intently. Is my right ear a better listener, or am I losing my hearing in the left one?

Drinking green tea instead of coffee or black tea with half and half. {Sigh} There is something comforting about the creamy-ness of a splash of dairy. Watery tea seems an injustice. So, I went to a local tea shop and got myself some real tea, as in the most gorgeous leaves and stems you can imagine, kind of tea. Turns out, getting an education in making tea is worth having my morning drink minus the dairy. The magic to good tea is in the temperature of the water you pour over the beautifully harvested leaves. No icky bitterness.

Who knew?

I’m also drinking this carefully crafted beverage out of my left hand now, which brings me to a pattern I noticed. Everything I do is heavily weighted to the right, so I am trying to lighten the load a bit and balance myself out. It seems unfair that the left has been allowed to slack for so long.

Are you a creature of habit? Try doing a few things differently and see if you don’t find a whole new world out there. Let me know – I’d love to hear what you discover.

As always, sending love and light,

–db

Who is Dianna Bonny?

Hi, my name is Dianna Bonny. It’s my mission to candidly share my journey with you. For me, it’s all about the healing: to create a radiant healing energy for others who have befallen a similar fate. Together, we can forge beautiful lives of belonging and connection. Thanks for joining me today! I look forward to hearing from you.