Notes From The Unknown: DaY 116

Pleasant is equivalent to static.

Please discuss. How does this play out in life?

I’ll start us out. Upheaval has been overly present in 2020. Many of us may think longingly of our stable, predictable lives prior to this year. We knew what to expect and how to navigate. Life felt good or at least mostly okay; it was pleasant.

When things are pleasant, we’re content to continue in our accustomed rut, willing to accept more of the same. There isn’t a big payoff for breaking out of the status quo, and we’re likely willing to continue in the same vein until we’re forced to shift.

This year has brought most of us life altering experiences on a number of fronts. Many of us are feeling stressed by the level and frequency of change. A calm, pleasant existence seems eminently desirable, a span of life in which we can coast and catch our breath.

Today’s message reminds me to be wary of the potential trade offs accompanying pleasant. What compromises might I be willing to make, what stagnation might I be willing to accept to establish a new, comfortable rut? I will want to make heads-up, conscious choices in favor of particular things and ways of being as I reinvent my new normal. Life can be so much more than pleasant.

How about you? How do you respond to the siren song of a pleasant existence?