I wanted to imagine my Perfect Day. I wanted to write it out and edit it until it was absolutely the embodiment of my most perfectest day ever.

I quickly realized that it was hard to do that without tossing a bunch of material things in there; I mean, if I'm being totally frank, my PERFECT perfect day would definitely start with me waking up in my king-sized bed (with my all-white Egyptian cotton linens) next to my handsome and sensitive husband, with our Rhodesian Ridgeback dog on the floor next to the bed, in our industrial loft live/work space in the woods overlooking a lake. Where I'm supposed to find a lakefront abandoned warehouse building in the forest is beyond me... Not to mention acquiring such a property would require funds to which I surely don't have access. I don't know. Maybe my PERFECT Perfect Day involves me waking up wealthy?

Why am I even doing this?
Maybe it's something to do with the existential brouhaha of inching my way up toward my mid-30s and still having much of my life so up in the air. Unlike others in my peer group, I've not yet "settled down" with house/marriage/family - and I honestly don't know if or when that will ever be my reality. I go through occasional periods of angst where I'm not sure if my life is on the right path, or if I even know what that path is.

Maybe you can relate to this: I'm not even so sure that I'm a "path" person; I'm more of an "aerial view" type of girl. I know what I'd like my life to look like from a very big-picture point of view, kind of omnisciently hovering above it and taking everything in at a glance, nodding my approval.

-- My key requirements are comfort, fun and joy.
-- My nice-to-NOT-haves are stress, drama and emotional struggle.
-- Not essential to me one way or the other are money, possessions or success.

My aerial view is a very pretty picture, if a little unrealistic.

There's an App for that
One of my favourite iPhone apps is Google Earth. I think it's so cool when you first launch the application, and the little picture of Planet Earth kind of swoops and spins beneath you until you're hovering over your exact location. I feel like I'm up in space looking down on my small piece of the planet. Quietly, unassuming. Just watching.

I also really like to pinch-zoom in to see how close I can get to seeing the detail of my little part of the globe. One time I actually made out the rusted-out white car that parks across the street from my condo building and it made me squeal with delight. So despite being a bird's-eye-view kind of gal, I appreciate that it can be kind of a fun experience to hone in on the detail.

The Perfect Day exercise will hopefully give me that same giddy excitement, as I pinch-zoom in on the aerial view of my life and pinpoint what my absolute perfect day would look like - in terms of experiences, not possessions.

My Perfect Day
My Perfect Day doesn't have any timelines, except for one: I know I'd wake up around 8am. 8am is my perfect wake-up time. It's not too early. It's not too dark. It's also not too late, so I'm not sleeping my Perfect Day away.

Portions
Eggs, toast, tea and newspaper. Wait, are eggs a possession? I just love eggs, and my perfect day would involve an eggy breakfast while I sit and read the paper.

Productivity
Then, I'd need to be productive. My Perfect Day wouldn't be totally lazy, or I'd go nuts. I'd get busy doing... something.

...I just closed my eyes for a few moments to see if I could picture what that might be. I can't, specifically. It's something creative and visual. It's something that I'd really be able to pour all of my energy into. I'd need to close off all distractions and focus on it completely. It's something that I need to do alone, left to be in my own little headspace until it's perfect. I can't say whether this burst of productivity is earning me a living, but it is something that I feel proud to produce.

How long do I perform this productive task? Until one minute before it starts to impede on the other beautiful things I have lined up for my Perfect Day. My productivity will not ruin my fun.

People
I'd set aside some time in the afternoon to check in with the important people in my world. Make plans to see friends, family, loved ones. Sending out birthday cards and thoughtful gifts - on time. I'd be the person everyone in my life could go to for a shoulder, an ear and other such metaphorically supportive body parts. Keeping my peeps close would be the biggest, most important part of my day.

Perspiration
Depending on what day it is, this particular Perfect Day may involve some movement of some kind - either running, playing a sport, lifting weights or doing yoga. My Perfect Day does not involve teaching any fitness classes, mainly because I don't want to be buckled in to a schedule.

Pigouts
There would be so much good food in my Perfect Day. It would probably be a diet very skewed in favour of seafood. Wait... is seafood a possession? I'd be eating all day long, whenever I wanted, and probably sipping on wine too. I'd take the time to cook delicious meals, and would want to share them with somebody.

Progression
I'd want to take tons of courses to learn about all manner of things - from cooking to building to designing to just understanding the world better. I'd occupy much of my day learning about everything I could.  

Page-turning
My Perfect Day would involve reading so many books. Having the time and the energy to spend hours every day poring over books and books and books. Maybe I'd finally make it through the first chapter of Shantaram!

Parties
There would be a social moment every day - either a big, raucous fun one, or a quiet, intimate one. I'd be spending great quality time with the people I love, celebrating the fun parts of life. My Perfect Day, in fact, has an equal blend of social moments and alone-time.

Passion
My Perfect Day requires a partner who's on the same happy, easygoing life path that I am. I definitely think it sounds way more fun than doing it alone.

Reality Check
Even a Perfect Day will have to involve some chores and duties. But I can't help but feel like these To Do lists would seem like less of a nuisance because every other moment of my day would be spent in bliss.

I think the thing that holds us back from experiencing Perfect Days in real life is that we let our real life take over. We are programmed to err on the side of being a responsible adult, and feel that it's our job to do the things that need to be done first, at any cost. Even if it means pushing away the truly important moments of life.

Oh, what do I know?

Sum up, Soldier
All I really know is that I have always had a bird's eye view of what my happy life might look like, and now I have a more honed-in close-up of it. When I look at the close-up, everything actually seems pretty attainable.

For instance, even if I can't quit my job to go and live with my (obviously wealthy) partner, swanning about our lakefront warehouse loft, creating visual masterpieces while sipping wine and eating sea scallops, I CAN make a better effort to keep my peeps close. Why not? I just listed it as the most important part of my Perfect Day, yet right now I spend maybe 10-20 minutes a day doing so. Quite pathetic - and there's no excuse for it. Am I too busy, too important? And if I am, how sad is that? I possess the power to shift that balance of time, and I should.

Right this very second I could make one phone call and start weaning myself off teaching fitness classes, so that I could have a more intuitive approach to my exercise - doing just what I want to do when I want to do it (or not do it). So why aren't I making that phone call right now?

Wait, I thought this was a Wellness Blog...
How does this tie to wellness? Emotionally, maybe. The "Spirit" factor of the mind/body/spirit equation.

Here's how I see it: Either you're one of those Status Quo people who never ponders change in your life, or your one of those Flighty people who can't go five minutes without wanting to take a garden spade to the whole thing and uproot it. Either way, there's got to be some mental wellness benefits to taking a moment to clearly focus on your life and what you want. And how you'll get there. Maybe that means making a list. Maybe it means drawing a picture. Maybe it means using a weak Google Earth analogy.

Spend the time to pinch-zoom in on your Perfect Day and see if, right away, you don't spy a few changes that you could make today - right now - to get you on that path.

If nothing changes, nothing changes, and who wants a life like that?