Free writing prompt - Ordinary

"Be that as it may, ordinary people go about their day."

I can never remember where I heard that. It's possible that I made that up at some point. But nearly every morning, it crosses my mind. Something about living the ordinary through the extraordinary......or else the opposite. I can never remember. In times of great stress, it's a mantra for simply getting through the hours. No matter the internal dialogue, there is an ordinary day to be lived. Dishes to be done. A litterbox to be scooped out. A boyfriend to argue with. And thus it becomes the writer's job to notice the extraordinary through it all. The way sunlight through the window catches the glint on a fork you are washing. The satisfied stretch of a cat who has just used the clean litterbox. (They always look satisfied. And they always use the litterbox right after you clean it. It's like a cat law or something.)

This morning it came in the form of noticing a neighbor's cat. He (or maybe she) stretched out against the sliding glass door, a story down from my balcony. Orange and white fur finger painted his coat down to a wash of white paws. His tail was smooth and trailed along the glass as if he were caressing a lover's cheek. White slats reflecting the morning sun seemed to halo this small creature and I marveled, not for the first time, of the simplicity of a cat's being. Humans would benefit from this, to simply curl around our furniture, stretch, yawn, and notice everything.

On the other hand, my cats also lick their butts. So maybe animals aren't always the best role models.

Still, this cat (as all cats do) caught my attention. In just notcing him I noticed the sunlight, the colors that bounced off the whiteness of his fur and the blinds. The grass outside was a stunning green, the windows across the way sparkled with a sun just beginning to herald the day. My coffee took on a sweeter taste and the leaves of the trees seemed imbued with their own childlike sway.

It was just a cat. But as ordinary as it was, I noticed it. And as ordinary as I am, I go about my day.