It’s a sunny day here in Atlanta, and I’m feeling quite out of sorts. Not quite normal, but then again, not quite abnormal.

Just sort of here.

I often feel like I’m “going through the motions” of a normal day…getting up, showering, going to work, etc. And in light of all that is happened the past few weeks, I wonder if it’s enough. Am I doing what I should be? Am I where I should be? What, if anything, should I do differently?

Talking with friends, I realized that I’m not alone in this semi-sense of confusion. I think I’m speaking for a lot of us when I say that some things just don’t seem as important as they did a few months ago. And yet we’re trying to be normal, trying to go on with our lives, as recommended by our leaders. Because if we don’t, they’ll win.

Is that enough, though? This “going through the motions” isn’t living life to the fullest, appreciating the little things, the small surprises that eventually make up our delight in the day. So, instead of rattling on about feeling insignificant and confused, here are a list of some things I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that make me happy, and hopefully will inspire you to start noticing the same.

1. Fall is about here! Besides the fact that I’m wearing my fav. cashmere sweater (lightweight at that) and my ol’ faithful knee-high boots, the leaves are starting to change. The slight tinge of red on my gigantic maple tree behind my house (the one that produces the acorns that drop with a cacophonous BANG on my tin roof!) makes me long for Friday evening football games and the smell of bonfires in October.

2. I’ve begun to hear a sound I haven’t heard in a while: little kids playing outside! After moving from a mainly-20-something yuppie-ite apartment complex to a residential first-house-with-kids area, I love hearing the kids run around, playing games that surely have no real name and chasing each other on the grass. I’m about to go join them!

3. Writing. Either letters, this barrel-o-dribble webpage, or my fav, http://www.shesheme.com, I’m finally able to write wherever, whenever I want to, even if it’s cheezy (like this one.) Creativity be damned…even on a day like today where not one ounce of my being has anything remotely creative going on, I can still submit my writing. So there.

4. My new favorite website: http://www.lyricspoint.com. It’s AWESOME. Desperately trying discern that line in your new fav. Lifehouse song that continues to evade you? Go here. You’ll never be stumped again! (Disclaimer: some of these are submitted by regular, “you-and-me-type” people who unfortunately can make a mistake at times. If you think the Gin Blossom song “Found Out About You” actually says “Oksana Baiul”, then this is the place for you!)

5. Keeping with the “this is a cheezy piece of writing” theme, my actual excitement of this coming week comes from the fact that my 2 favorite shows (ok, make that 3!) are premiering! No, not anything to mentally stimulating, but in this day of repetitive news that leads to nightmares and daily anxiety, the premiere of Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, and Roswell is an event in itself.

‘Nuff said.

Have yourselves a merry little Monday,

Aub