The Magic Of Being Ordinary

Do you really plan on writing about being….nice?

I do.

This could be monumentally boring, you know.  Really, really boring.

So be it. Frankly, I like “nice.” I’m attached to being “nice.” However, I’m searching for words to better describe nice that aren’t formulaic or dripping in honey. Formulaic? Dripping in honey? Certainly sounds to me like you’re experiencing a niceness backlash.

Nice-phobic? Unexciting and non-spicy behavior (whatever that means) or unnoticed by others? Ordinary…Just plain old vanilla. Not a standout. Labeling myself as just plain ‘ol nice seems personally denigrating. Wouldn’t you say?

I cannot tell a lie. (Oh, right. That line has been taken.) My preferred behavioral characteristics for being a noticed human would fall in the constellation of stellar, exemplary, brave, etc. You know, the behaviors one usually associates with those inhabiting the Marvel Superhero Universe. Those with capes and lightening bolts flying. (This outlook might be the result of all those superhero comic books I devoured as a kid.)

Self-honesty can be tough, painfully bracing, and embarrassing. Here goes. Whoopee for my highly desired human behaviors - stellar, exemplary, brave, etc. The standard of behaviors among those who often wear capes. Ordinary? Not so much. At all

What is it about the words “nice” and, yes, “ordinary” that diminish, for me, the behavioral values of being a good and loving human? Begone, ordinary! You don’t count for much.

Ouch!

Aha, got it! Really got it! For the very first time! (Can you tell I’m excited?) Ordinary, vis-à-vis being just a nice person, is a doorway! A doorway to me.  As I allow myself to comfortably inhabit ‘my’ particular brand of ordinary (“nice”, in this case), the doorway opens, bit by bit, allowing my own uniqueness to emerge. A doorway opening me to a comfort level with who I am. A comfort level that allows my unique qualities (hey, yours too) to unfurl in the world.

I mean, who would’ve thunk that fully and comfortably living into my particular ordinariness also opens the door to my greater wholeness? Not me. I was captivated by the ‘out-there-ness’ of the superhero accoutrements, unaware that I possessed the magic door of ordinariness leading to my own unfolding individuation. I mean, really, who would’ve thunk. And you know what? A magic door, to boot, opening into 2024….