Routine vs Spontaneity

I have just come back from a four-day trip to Melbourne. Prior to the trip, I spent days doing things for the blog to run smoothly. Before I left, I spent the morning packing my laptop and the whole kit and caboodle to be fully productive during the short break.

I did nothing of the sort.

Instead, I caught up with friends, ate lavish meals and talked non-stop.

The occasion was a friend’s 70th birthday. All of our friends were there and we had a ball celebrating life. Even rain and terrible winds didn’t stop us from merrymaking.

On Saturday morning, we went for a walk to the Organ Pipes (a million-year-old rock formation on the north-west of Melbourne formed by cooling and cracking volcanic lava).

On Sunday we did absolutely nothing other than eating, talking and viewing holiday photographs.

After months of being a prisoner of self-imposed routine as a blogger, I had so much fun that the rebel in me said, “That’s it. No more schedules. Just do what you feel like. Be spontaneous rather than regimented.”

Believe me when I say I was tempted.

Lying in the bed in the half-asleep-half-awake state I was ready to throw out of the window, the routines and rituals, which took me months to establish and cement when the first routine kicked in.

For the past few weeks, I have been following a morning routine which has made my mornings extra special. As per this routine, the first thing I do as soon as I wake up is – meditation.

So I decided to ponder on it during the meditation.

Routine or spontaneity, that is the question.

Routines are excellent if you want to do something on a consistent basis, one of the best ways to manage day-to-day stress. A daily routine creates comfort and provides a mindless and stress-free way to conquer daily tasks with as little energy and effort as possible. A routine allows you to: accomplish more, have better mental health, help better manage time, break bad habits, choose how your day progresses and stop procrastination.

Spontaneity, on the other hand, is like romance, unpredictable but exciting. It adds pizzaz to life, making it interesting. It helps you think outside the box, find new connections and unique solutions.

There seem to be people who enjoy and thrive on routines and others who prefer to be spontaneous. I am like a pendulum who swings from one end to another.

I like routines and I am quite disciplined to follow them but the lure of spontaneity is too much for me to resist. After some time every routine becomes too monotonous for me and I become restless. I feel like an animal trapped in a cage and want to break free. On these days, no amount of security created by routine soothes my spirit; an escape is the only thing that will work.

That may be the case with all creative souls. After all, they say:

So the answer that revealed itself during the meditation was – build spontaneity in your routine, and when the spontaneity calls don’t worry about breaking the routines. Because it means I am on the verge of a breakthrough.

Did you notice the change on my site display? It is in response to one such call of spontaneity.

I will leave that story for another day.