Embrace Mundanity
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about mundanity. This isn’t by coincidence — I’ve been desperately craving it.
Hi, hello, it’s been a while since I last published a newsletter! Kicking this off by quickly saying thank you for being here; it’s been one hell of a year so far, and rest trumped SubStack consistency for a bit. I’m looking forward to getting back into routine writing again, plus, there’s something fun I’ve been planning for my SubStack. Excited to show you soon! — Allison
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about mundanity. This isn’t by coincidence — I’ve been desperately craving it. The last three years have been a non-stop hustle of working a strenuous day job in marketing, coupled with running a small risograph printing press by night. My to-do list is like a river, constantly flowing with boulders, fallen trees, and various obstacles sprinkled across the current. There is no time for a moment’s rest within my boat, because I have to constantly look 10 feet ahead to map out my route or swerve an upcoming obstacle. I look around, and I see others in their boats, somehow mastering the ability to fish, entertain fellow passengers, and take in the surrounding scenery while navigating the rushing waters. I feel a sense of envy; how can they possibly do it all? Why does it feel like my boat is riddled with scotch-taped holes, encumbered with river water?
I’m ready to put my oars down. The current is fast and demanding, but I realized that I’m missing the beauty of the surrounding scenery — the small, mundane details of life that’re the reason why getting in the boat was even worth it in the first place. When all we think about is the bigger picture and how we can get from one goal to the next, there’s no room for reflection or inspiration, the feeling that’s fueled by all the boring, mundane moments.
The mundane and the sacred are one and the same.
- Alan Watts
As we come up on the second quarter of 2026 (barf), I’d like to work with my brain to be more okay with accepting mundanity. Making room for and getting excited about the mundane parts of life offers us a stable and comforting foundation that ends up being the parts of our lives we value most. In fact, a 2014 Harvard Business School study found that people consistently underestimate how interesting and meaningful their ordinary daily experiences will feel when they revisit them later. In experiments where students created “time capsules” of everyday moments (like conversations or songs they were listening to), participants later found these memories far more enjoyable and curiosity-inducing than they had predicted. The research suggests that documenting mundane moments can create unexpected future joy because ordinary experiences often become more meaningful with time.
Tools For Embracing The Mundane
Activities and habits I’ve embraced that help me slow down and appreciate the mundane parts of life more.
✦︎ Point-and-Shoot Film Photography
I bring my Kodak Ektar H35 half-frame camera with me everywhere. It’s a $50-60 camera that has 72 exposures, making it a more affordable option for consistent film photography and development. Most of the photos I take with it are, on paper, “boring”. They are photos of my 5 pm shadow. They’re a quick snap of a building I thought looked cool. And they are photos I cherish more than a posed iPhone shot at some big event or life moment.
✦︎ Bullet Journal Daily Recaps
I’ve mentioned bullet journaling in a past newsletter, but I love it so much that it needs a mention here, too. I track all of my mundane, boring little day-to-day tasks in LEUCHTTURM1917’s Green23 Bullet Journal. I dedicate a page a month to writing down 3-4 words describing each day. Some days are just “Gym” or “Dinner with So-and-So”, but it’s these days that I tend to remember and cherish the most.
✦︎ Daily Life Vlogging
Vlogging has helped me appreciate the little things more. My favorite vlogs to edit are the ones where I do seemingly “boring” things — cooking, book shopping, reading, working in my studio, etc. When I sit down to edit, it’s like flipping through an old diary; it grants me the time to sit, reflect, and remind myself that even when I feel like I’m not doing a ton, the mundane days end up being the most full. Shameless YouTube plug here.
✦︎ Read Memoirs
I’ve been on a big memoir kick lately. I recently read Hua Hsu’s 'Stay True, Katherine May’s Wintering, and am gearing up to read Patti Smith’s Just Kids. I like seeing how the small moments in these people’s lives make up the larger picture, and I find solace in learning that my (at times, annoying) patterns of thinking are shared with others.
✦︎ Romanticize Routine
Mundanity is a blank canvas for painting rituals and routines into your life. When I’m stupid busy and feel like I barely have time to eat or sleep, I look to establishing small, tiny routines or rituals that help ground me. Setting the coffee machine to auto-brew in the morning, reading before bed, and taking walks or going to the gym right after work are moments throughout the day that make me feel like I have some control over my time.
Back in October, I wrote a newsletter about the importance of rituals. If you’re interested in this topic, you can read it here:
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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Thanks for posting. Perhaps a memoir would do me some good. :)
I love reading memoirs too! There's just something so magical about being given permission into someone else's life and musings! I recommend Jeanette Winterson's 'why be happy when you could be normal?' and Trevor Noah's 'born a crime'. They're my two favourite memoirs and I hope they can be yours too!