February 29, 2016 by Amy

No Leap Necessary

I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media about Leap Day. My various feeds were flooded today with self-helpy, motivation-laden, carpe diem-filled “go out there and do something great with this Extra Day!” crap. Which is fine, if you have the luxury of actually being able to pull that off.

In my case, and the case of my husband and most of the people I know, Leap Day was just another Monday. Another day where stuff needed to get done. It’s not like February 29 is a national holiday, a true gift of the cessation of responsibilities. Even changing the clock back an hour for Daylight Savings grants you more than Leap Day.

I got up this morning, like every other weekday morning, and debated whether I could get one more day out of my dirty hair. I showered and dressed and stuffed my backpack and cleaned the litter box. I made a reasonably healthy lunch for my kid (lean chicken sandwich = good, truffle for dessert = bad) and got her off to school. I drove to work and dove in, answering emails and fielding questions and attending meetings. I ate a good lunch with my colleagues where we talked and laughed as we always do. I picked my kid up from after care and we sorted Girl Scout cookies. M came home and rustled up dinner, which consisted mostly of delicious leftovers. We ate together and talked about our days. Zoe practiced the piano and took care of her chores, and we snuggled and listened to Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter”. I played Words With Friends with my cousin and continued reading “Five Days at Memorial” on my Kindle. I texted with a friend. M and I watched John Oliver’s incredibly funny rant against Donald Drumpf and laughed out loud. We discussed hotel accommodations for our upcoming spring break trip. I’m getting ready to wash my face, brush my teeth, and fall into bed.

I will not feel guilty for “wasting” this Leap Day. Because it wasn’t a waste. No, I didn’t go out and do something earth-shattering. There was no grand gesture. But there is a certain nobility, I think, in living a good life. In being there for friends and for children and for colleagues. In doing a job well, and with purpose and integrity. And I don’t need a Leap Day to celebrate that. It’s what I try to do every single day.

I’m all for celebrating just about everything. It’s something we’ve passed along to Zoe, who tonight announced that we should have dessert to celebrate being halfway through Lent. But our celebrations are just that: ours. They are our own private revelries for those things that pertain to us. I’m happy for those friends of mine who could actually shed their responsibilities for a day, or even for an hour, to celebrate Leap Day. But I also recognize that despite a social media trend it’s not a mandate to the rest of us, nor are we failing in any way for simply living this day the very best we can, by whatever definition of personal success we determine, as we did on February 28 and as we will on March 1.

(Full Disclosure: I had no intention of writing anything for the blog today, but I thought it might be fun to post something on February 29. Yes, I see the irony in a rant against Leap Day to post on Leap Day just to get the Leap Day time stamp. What can I say; I’m a complicated woman.)

#blog#daily life#leap day#personal essay#writing