A little while ago I was reflecting on some of my childhood wishes and desires. There was one thing I wanted more than anything else. Well, two things. I wanted to travel the world. Which can happen in certain capacities and I’ve been blessed enough to experience travel to many different places. It just didn’t look like the sense of freedom that I expected in the sense that my Japanese RPGs gave me. Where I and a party of three others would explore the world and take on various odds. Eventually ending with slaying a reality-altering God of course. I digress. The dream I wanted more than anything, was to own a castle.

To own a castle? What does this mean? In fact, it is in direct opposition with my other dream in many ways, representing the duality that I believe is in my soul. It’s a representation of the love of comfort to be had in a home. Somewhere large, larger than my house. It would be extravagant, and detailed, like a castle should. It would be able to house all of the people I care about. I always promised a friend of a longtime friend of mine a room in my house. I could care for my mother and father in their elderly days, and they could be far enough away in the west wing while I enjoyed my afternoon in the East. It’s a dream I cherish and hold close to me every single day. But, this brings me to a larger subject, the way that a dream like this makes me feel as an adult, as someone who has experienced great hardship and difficulty. It birthed a new dream, one that is centered on the beauty of the mundane.
We live our lives surrounded by those who speak of ‘grind’ culture. The idea is that it’s our duty as individuals to work ourselves to the bone in pursuit of financial or monetary gain. I consider myself a hard worker and by extension a high achiever. I (most recently) have viewed myself as disciplined, and I think there is real worth in that. However, I can’t deny that which I have lost out on by pressing forward each and every day. What I’ve lost was a sense of my youth, a fleeting aspect of beauty that is gone from the moment by tried to press onward down the rocky path. I’ve lost access to that which feeds the soul, rather than the pockets, at times. 

I find myself drawn to these fan drawings I’ve seen on social media. Of the Teen Titans doing mundane things like watching a drive-in movie. Or having a slumber party at a house in the woods. Or the Powerpuff Girls, eating a meal in the afternoon at a diner. All of these things are rather mundane and have some kind of power to me. It feels beautiful. It feels fleeting, like it’s a moment that you fail to appreciate in the moment, but come to have loved later. It aligns with that same feeling, the beauty in the mundane.
Why are we drawn to it? Is it the connection? Maybe it’s the sense of belonging? Perhaps it’s the allure of a good burger with good people. Maybe it’s something else entirely. But it’s the type of thing that I find myself always looking back on with positive feelings.

I had a group of friends in college, there were four of us usually, and we got together every Friday to do something. Usually just relaxed on someone’s apartment floor eating good food and telling jokes while we passed the time together. Honestly, things weren’t perfect. I can vividly remember exactly how I felt about my college career, and how worried I was about my future. Those feelings didn’t leave me for some time. But, I almost look exclusively back on those as good times.

*Full credit to leecheedoodles for the PPG art. A art that encapsules the mundane I hold so close to me.