Project 365 Day 19: Everyday Habits

Canon 5D Mark ll, 24-70 L, 2.8 aperture, 1/80 shutter, 640 ISO

There are so many ways to say “I love you”.  Most of them don’t involve words. Last year, without a word, Chris and I began the daily habit of making the bed, no matter what. We never talked about it. We just did it. If I got distracted and busy, he would do it, and if he had to go in early, I would. It is a small, mundane task that says, “Our space matters. You matter. I am committed to you today.”  Yes, it says all of that.

It happened after we repainted and redecorated our room. First, I ordered canvases of us and put them on the walls. From there I selected colors that were in the canvases and purchased linens and comforters to compliment them. Our crowning achievement was changing the drab off-white walls to a rich, spicy orange. I felt like my soul took a deep breath of color and life every time I walked in the room. He felt the same. The canvases of us and our kids were the focal point of the room. We were home. Making the bed everyday just seemed natural after that. I try to always thank him when I walk in the room and the bed is made. And not just made. Made like I would have done it, with all the pillows in the right places and the blanket at the end.

It seems like a small detail, to find him and thank him for something he did when I wasn’t around, but it isn’t. It is another brick in our path together. It is in these small things that our lives are forever cemented together. We are valuing each other in the everyday.