Practically Perfect Days

 On Tuesday evening, I had a revelation. As far as revelations go, it wasn't a huge one, but it was significant enough to write about. I was getting ready for bed when I realized that I had just experienced a "practically perfect" day. That encouraged me to mentally enumerate all the different things that made it such.

• Breakfast at a restaurant (my favourite Eggs Benedict at Markham Station)
• Scrapbook creation time
• Contact with friends
• Nap time
• Time to read (finally finished The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King)
• Meaningful errands with my son (to get his second vaccination)
• Enjoyable errands with my daughter (shopping for great deals at Value Village)
• Conversation with my sister
• A meal I haven't had in ages (Manchu Wok) for dinner, shared with my spouse

Note: I didn't take photos of all of these moments, but I have several "near-representations" from Animal Crossing New Horizons and Animal Crossing New Leaf, so I'll include them here as visuals. (They are "breakfast in a restaurant", "hanging out with friends", "napping" and "shopping".)

There are some obvious patterns present - eating (out) and sleeping being two primary delights - and I was able to replicate versions of some of my favourite things later in the week, when I had friends come over and when I myself visited friends.  Thanks Candice, Wendy, Farah, Renee and Dean for spending time with me (and allowing me to spend time with them) - face-to-face social contact with members outside my home is something I really missed during the pandemic and truly appreciate much more now.

The feelings that this "practically perfect" few days generated were contentment, joy, and relaxation. I think I appreciated these things I did this week more because they aren't regular events. Would the special aura diminish if I got to do them every single day? It got me wondering what my students would say a "practically perfect" day would entail. 

I also think that my busy July also made me enjoy the "down time"; I don't regret for a moment doing my Queen's University AQ facilitation (new late summer cohort starts this week) or my ETFO Summer Academies (tech supporting a different session also this week) because I like having things to do. It's a different type of pleasure I gain from activities like those. It may also help that these enjoyable activities are ones I have control over, unlike what looks like it will be another unpredictable school year approaching. I'll enjoy those practically perfect days when I get them, because who knows how long they'll be around!