Today has been a very solid day. I’ve found a handful of potential topics to write on, a couple of which would have been going a little, possibly very, deep. While there are certainly future blogs to be written about observing teammates rise to a challenge, trying newly re-purposed solutions in unique ways, scrutinizing where my time is spent and finding many opportunities for improvement, forcing time for an overdue project, listening to the podcast of a thought provoking behavioral economist, and the like – my mind and soul keep coming back to something that really felt good for some reason… making supper.

Making supper. Yup, how menial of a task is that? Something that happens often enough that it shouldn’t even register on the gratitude radar… or should it?

When I got home from work Becky was still at yoga. Gavin is at Scout camp and Dominic had already spent a lot of time cleaning the house and volunteered to do dishes. I changed out of pants, threw on shorts, and proceeded to start the grill.

Supper was nothing fancy. Chicken on the grill and pearled basil couscous on the side. A meal I’ve made many times over and one that really involved zero creativity. No recipe, just a basic meal I could construct basically from muscle memory. Easy, not complex, no exact timing and pretty much no measurement. Simple.

The process of making supper for Becky and Dominic felt rewarding. I was making a gift of my time for others. The process had a set finish line I could get to in a short period of time. I was able to see it through to completion on my own with no additional help. It was peaceful, relaxing, and rewarding. I know, it sounds wild, but I really enjoyed and appreciated making supper tonight.

I’ve done it many times over, especially with Becky being in the field often over the past month or so. Today I was struck by how much I appreciated doing something for others without being asked, working on a project from start to finish, and being able to create. Crazy, but amazing.

All the deep stuff can wait for another time. While my thoughts often drift in that direction I am always caught happily surprised by the rewards of the simple. Simplicity… such an exquisite beauty capable of creating such joy.

Thanks!!!