Sometimes it is the humdrum of life that just might save us all. We fight against it; we mock it; we dread waking up to one more day of everyday chores that boil down to “Shampoo. Rinse. Repeat.” But this is what I have come to appreciate about the sameness of it all. It is something to focus on when you’re waiting for the phone call or the proposal that doesn’t come. It is the distraction that keeps us stepping forward as we wait for the test results on an abnormal pap, a job interview or a desperate yet necessary email sent. It is the focus that propels us through watching our children toddle off, bright lunchbox in hand, to the independence of kindergarten to the more lump swallowing moment when they step out onto the diving board and fly off to college.

These little tasks that go unnoticed, unappreciated and sometimes unnecessary wrap us up in a warm, comforting blanket of monotony and slip us into a comfortable rut we will bemoan and wiggle out of during a vacation or a carefree night when the second or third drink stirs in us that free spirit but when the dust settles, we will glide easily back into “shampoo, rinse, repeat” mode. It is often what keeps us breathing.