Day 38:
Today was slower. Softer. Less structured.
Raelene and I were both a little wrung out from yesterday’s epic thrift adventure and our late night at Billy Bob’s (because apparently we think we’re twenty again), so today gave us permission to reset. We lounged. Watched a show. Sat in comfortable silence. The kind of silence you can only share with someone who feels like home… or someone equally committed to scrolling TikTok in the same room without judgment.
And honestly… I didn’t hate it.
Eventually the quiet gave way to one of those long, easy conversations that fills the space in a different way — not loud, just rich. And somewhere in the middle of that, I noticed a tug.
Not because the conversation wasn’t good — it was — but because the rhythm has become this low hum I can’t quite tune out anymore.
Like my routines were quietly clearing their throat in the corner.
But I didn’t leave.
Because I knew these moments were rare.
And this rhythm — the one built over 38 days — isn’t something I need to cling to out of fear it’ll vanish.
It’ll be waiting when I return.
That’s how I know it’s working.
I’ve definitely fallen off a bit from my Ideal Day rhythm while she’s been in town — mostly because I haven’t made it the priority I usually do. But what surprised me today was how much I missed it. I found myself, in a quiet pocket of the afternoon, craving the familiar rhythm. The writing. The editing. The reflection. The structure I fought so hard to build.
It used to be that I had to force those habits. Now? It feels weird when they’re not there.
Which tells me something important:
The rhythm might bend… but it’s still mine.
We did end up venturing out — a little day trip in Colette to get frozen custard. Rae was the kind of copilot every content creator dreams of: equal parts hype-woman, director, and unpaid intern reminding me, “Um, maybe film this?” If she lived here, we’d be an unstoppable content duo. But the fact that she doesn’t? It makes the time we do have even more intentional. We’re already dreaming up a Main Character trip for November, and after today, I know we’ll make it happen.
(Even if those moments involve frozen custard and Colette’s questionable AC in the Texas heat.)
But when the rhythm is real, it calls you back — not with shame, but with invitation.
And that might be the most surprising part of this challenge so far:
For once, I don’t have to show up.
I want to.
See you tomorrow.
(Unless I delete the internet and move into the woods.)
—Jenli
“Sometimes, joy is the most productive thing you can choose.”