“If you do what you love, it is the best way to relax.”
—Christian Laboutin
According to www.etymonline.com, the word diary has a Proto-Indo-European root, dyeu—which means “to shine.”
Contrast this with the word calendar which comes from the Latin calare meaning “to announce solemnly or call out,” harking back to the time when Roman priests would call out when they saw the new moon and from this, they would then mark out the rest of the month.
Several years ago, I was given a beautiful diary with illustrations on each page and with the full week spread out across two pages, meaning that each day had its own section, a space to fill.
Normally, I would have quite easily filled up each section with the usual never-ending to-dos that I could then tick off and feel a sense of accomplishment each time. But this diary was different. It was too beautiful to fill up with drudgery. It seemed to offer me more.
I decided to use this diary as an opportunity to put into every section on every page something I really loved doing so that whenever I opened this beautiful diary, I would see a week of loveliness stretch out in front of me, rather than a mess of admin, work, and appointments.
Nothing grand or flashy, just something each day that I could ensure I carved out time for to really enjoy.
There would be no cluttering up my little book of loveliness with solemn appointments and nagging reminders—those went on my calendar instead.
To make my week really shine, I would write down at least one shiny thing to enjoy every day:
- Monday: loose leaf tea in a teapot with a cup and saucer
- Tuesday: paint my toenails and put some cream on my feet afterwards
- Wednesday: come home from work the slightly longer way to see the daffodils in the park
That kind of thing. Simple things that didn’t really require much effort on my part and that I was sure to be able to find time for but would really make my day shine.
After a few weeks, I noticed a real difference in all areas of my life. A niggling health issue that had been troubling me resolved itself. My apartment looked different—brighter and fresher. I was eating different foods and really savoring them. That little diary brought the shine back into my life.
I am a stationery superfan and still make the distinction between things to put in my diary—things to make my day shine—and things to put on my calendar—the more solemn and less shiny necessities. I am not convinced that there could be any digital substitute to these, and if there were, I’m not even sure I’d want one.
Every day is a gift, and it’s easy to lose track of this when we fill it with clutter. So make sure you make time for at least one shiny thing to enjoy each day and see what transformations unfold for you.
