{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Routines","description":"Are traditions the same thing as routines, they're just done less frequently? And if the tradition is both loved and hated, what does that mean? On today's Keepin It Real, Cam shares that he both loves and hates them.  ----- I have a routine that I practice nearly every day. I both look forward to it and hate it. I wake up shortly after 5am. I have clothes laid out on a chair next to the bed and I dress and go into the kitchen and start the coffee. I fold laundry while it brews. I then pour myself a cup and sit in my morning chair and write in my journal for about thirty minutes. I then review my calendar for the day, make a to-do list, boil an egg for breakfast, shower, dress, and head into the office. It\u2019s the same thing every weekday. I love my routine. It\u2019s helpful. It grounds me. It\u2019s something I can control. It\u2019s a predictable thing in this unpredictable world. It\u2019s reliable and I like that. At the very same time, I also hate my routine. It drains the life from me. It\u2019s oppressive. It holds me back. It severely restricts me. It\u2019s tyranny. How can something that I love so much, that I count on to be there every day, also crush my soul? It makes no sense, but that\u2019s what it does. This, of course, leads me to the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays. Routines and traditions are not the same thing, but they can have the same impact. For years my extended family has gathered at my father\u2019s cabin in the woods of Clark County on Thanksgiving Day. I can\u2019t be there on Thanksgiving Day without thinking of my mother. She\u2019s been gone for three years or so and yet the place still reflects my mother\u2019s presence. And Thanksgiving Day was the pinnacle of her presence each year there. She\u2019d set the table in a way I can still remember. She\u2019d send her grandkids into the woods to find leaves that had changed colors for the fall \u2013 they\u2019re not easy to find in south Alabama. The leaves would be arranged in small vases down the center of the table. There were short wax candle figurines of pilgrims and turkeys that magically appeared on the table each year. They were on that table when I was a child; my kids, decades later, knew to expect them and asked about them. We eat. Comments are made that if you want any food, don\u2019t get behind my sister-in-law in the line to fix your plate. The same thing every year. The same comments. The same wonderful food. It's a tradition. It\u2019s an annual routine. It\u2019s wonderful to fall back on \u2013 we know exactly what\u2019s coming. It\u2019s also specifically prescribed behaviors which we all agree to participate in, which, to me, can feel stifling. However, I happily do it because not having it \u2013 this tradition, this annual routine \u2013 not having it available to me \u2013 would be worse. The meal would feel empty and awful. I cherish it. Just like tomorrow, I\u2019ll get up again just after 5AM, get dressed, start the coffee maker, fold clothes while the coffee brews, and so on. It\u2019s boring and predictable. But I need it. I cherish it. Not having it available to me would be worse.   I\u2019m Cam Marston, just trying to Keep It Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"