My Favorite Things…….

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…….you get the picture.  These are a few of my favorite things……

The smell of air after a rainstorm or right before a snowstorm, so crisp and clean.  The smell of vanilla and Macintosh apples.  The feel of freshly cleaned sheets and warm, fuzzy socks.  Spending time with my family and friends, just talking and laughing.  Some of my other favorites are my favorite author,  Jane Austen (who doesn’t like a good romance).  My favorite band, The Beatles (of course).  My favorite color, purple.  I also love flamingos, hedgehogs and Llamas/Alpacas (the pop socket on my phone is a porcupineapple but it looks like a hedgehog). 

These are consistent favorites for me.  Other favorites that I have seem to change as I age.  My tastes change, my interests change, my life changes.  Favorite things are my comforts.  We all have them.  We have our comfort zones and we tend to stay in or near those zones.  It takes a lot to step outside our zones but we can’t grow unless we do.  For some, public speaking is a big fear, for me not as much.  Yes, I get nervous but it’s not a fear anymore.  Is it a favorite thing to do?  Hell no!!  Will I do it if I have to?  Of course.   Meeting new people is outside my comfort zone, large crowds are outside my zone as well.  But do I spend time in crowds or meeting new people?  Yes, I do but I do try to limit my time doing those things.  I think all this time spent at home during this pandemic has only made me more uncomfortable with crowds and meeting new people.  I find myself craving the familiar, the known, my favorite people and places.  I’m not about venturing out and going to new places or seeing strangers.  I miss my best friend, our adventures with our 5K races, just getting together to craft or just to talk.  I miss traveling to see family or having friends and family over to the house for a cook-out.  My favorite things are changing in this global pandemic.  I find solace in the quiet moments reading a good book, watching a new show or listening to my favorite music.  My daily routines have changed.   I’ve always been a creature of habit and stuck to a pretty regimented time schedule.  Although the time schedule habit is still there, the things that I do in that time schedule are different.  My favorite time of the day is first thing in the morning, when I’m the first person up and the house is quiet.  I can think, plan out my day, send out my daily sorority emails or just be.  My favorite time of day used to be my commute to and from work, when I could listen to my podcasts and get my mind set for the day or to get ready for home.  Now that I’m home all day, I’ve had to change what I do during my favorite time.  But it’s okay to change your favorites, to grow and discover new favorites.  I think that we all go through phases in our lives and with each phase, come new favorites.  Embrace the new and keep the old.