I was thinking today about perfect days in my life. You know, those days where plans go right, when amazing things happen, that you remember for a long time. Focusing on living in the moment to me means that when those wonderful moments occur, you can be fully present in them.
Sunday was close to perfect. I made fried egg sandwiches on jalapeno cheese bread with a side of tabouli for breakfast. I sat in the playpen and read a couple chapters of “Winter’s Tale.” I watched Sherlock Holmes and the making of the movie. I played some Street Fighter 4 on my new PS3. In the evening I took a short walk around Times Square, then went over to Magnolia Bakery at Rockefeller Center to get some banana pudding. Then I stopped at a food cart to get some lamb over rice and went home to eat dinner. It was one of the most peaceful days I’ve had in a while.
Truly perfect days are rare. The last one I recall was the last day of the staycation in August with Bonnie, when we went to the Met and won front-row tickets to see “Wicked”. The one before that was Poly Pride in October 2009, when Kerry joined Puck and me to celebrate our first anniversary ("Poly Pride 2009" - October 13, 2009)
The night I met Tara and her family for the first time, after IMing with her for over a year – despite all the logistics of missing my flight and being delayed by awful weather – it turned out to be absolutely perfect, like the ending of Sleepless in Seattle ("Third anniversary" - October 14, 2008). And Samhain 2008 with Tara was pretty awesome too ("Samhain at the Met" - October 31, 2008)
Back when I kept my old journal after college, I used to rate special days on a 10-point scale. I remember having a few close to perfect days with my friend Pearl, 8.9 or 9.0 on the scale. I always marvel at the perfect timing that she became such a big part of my life when I needed her most (after Agnieszka Prime left town), giving me the uncomplicated and pure friendship that only a child can give. Just hanging out with her, running errands, buying Shipley’s donuts – being together made everything fun, and without the heaviness that sometimes comes with adult relationships.
There have been a lot of days that are more significant, filled with adventure; or fun days when cool stuff happens. I don’t mean to discount the importance of days like getting a new job or doing good work, but what I have to do for a living doesn’t factor into my idea of a perfect day. For me, perfect days are a combination of excitement and peace, and strike a balance between what I think I want and what I really need. And they usually have to involve someone I love, platonically or otherwise.
