For me, there is something incredibly satisfying about folding socks. At 7:30 this morning, the room was dark with the exception of the morning light filtering through the window blinds. The TV was turned off, and the sound of silence filled the room instead of the usual noise of the morning news.

I had a pile of laundry on the bed, mostly socks. As I stood over the pile and matched partners, it dawned on me how good it feels to find the two that go together, creating a duet from two solos. It wasn’t a grand and glorious experience, but it was very pleasant. It was satisfying. It was completion.

Another blessing of the mundane: looking down at my hands as I type on the computer to notice that I have white tile mud stuck onto my fingernails. These specks of dried-on gook symbolize for me the journey I am on, learning new skills, being asked to help with projects, working side-by-side with my husband and my Dad to turn something old and dull into something new and pleasing to the eye.

There are things I wish were different in my life I now live. There are relationships that I miss, friends and family that were once such a part of my existence and are now relegated to memories or an occasional and sometimes superficial “hope you’re doing well.”

But for the most part, I love my life and the healing therapy of counting my blessings, naming them one by one. I love no longer being a solo but a duet with Sam.

I love recognizing the mundane joys that were once overlooked. Instead of filling my free time staring at a TV or Facebook, watching others’ lives pass by without myself experiencing new adventures and opportunities, I am loving the doing, the learning, the serving. Life is an adventure to participate in, to experience, to be grateful for, to love…

I even love the bittersweet – the missing of and longing fors. It means I recognize. I feel. I now appreciate what I have.

So with that, today I am grateful for the joy of folding socks and appreciating stubborn tile mud. Humdrum to some, blessings to me.