New Sameness

Alex Garrett
3 min readSep 11, 2020

This concept literally flowed from my lips this past week at my local Starbucks and in conversation with a colleague at work. Don’t ask me why I’m so driven to write this blog, but I am.

Some Americans have been shaking that quarantine rust off and headed back to work. Some Americans still are tragically unemployed this Labor Day week. Some Americans are literally doing what they have been doing since this pandemic started and before, which is staying essential to keep this country going. Kudos to all in these categories, as one way or another you are a fabric in this country working hard to stay at work!

Every day for many has become this sameness we can’t get out of. I would like to say, if you can’t get out of the sameness, find something NEW about your same routine and experience each day! The fact that our television screens are literally not offering any new hopes, any new silver linings means we can’t rely on just staring at a TV or Netflix any more. We have to rely on finding something new. How? By exploring! Getting out of that basement and taking on the world again, is a start. Whether it be just your own backyard or a dense metro city, let’s get outside again!

For me, it was exploring Washington Square Park (with a mask on) that made me realize people are out and about trying to make new experiences, new moments in 2020. My buddy, Instagram influencer Mr. NYC Subway, encouraged me to go and check out and actually have some fun! Yes, as crazy as 2020 has been, there is still time to get rid of the sameness you might be feeling!

Museums in New York City have just re-opened at limited capacity, so we are seeing that. Malls in NYC have just re-opened this week as well to explore. The biggest WIN so far this week at least here is that indoor dining will commence at 25% capacity on September 30th! 2020 is far from over, and the sameness, the same day every day feeling is dissipating, can’t you feel it?

Personally, I am working on sticking with a couple of ways to maintain newness alongside the sameness. Experiencing one exciting adventure a day is a huge health benefit for me. It’s NEW, it’s something to bring back normalcy again. I used to try many different adventures in one night, which did run me down. To stick with at least one adventure every few days and then going home to relax is a win-win theory for me, I hope that could work for you too! Second, I also am believing that exerting a stable energy can also bring newness into our lives.

If you feel your pattern has got you down, working on a pattern that may not seem as chaotic will bring you a less chaotic outcome. For me, I’ve stopped wandering the streets of New York City. Nearly every night since returning, I wanted to experience the city again to keep my sanity. I’ve learned to keep my sanity by also going home earlier most nights to recharge the battery knowing GOD will bring a new and better day the next day!

This is the other idea I’d love to explore more and have you explore it to. What newness can and does God bring to you every day? God’s signs are around even in pandemic-type atmospheres, no doubt about it. Yet, if we do just one adventure at a time and not try and pack it in each day, I believe God generates a new day literally full of new possibilities !

Let me ask about this as a follow up to my ‘Stay-In-Place Habits’ blog. (https://medium.com/@AlexGInNYC/stay-in-place-habits-should-stay-in-place-post-quarantine-bee6f81050a9) How have you been keeping up with the habits you’ve developed during this whole time? Have you regressed or seen progress? Have you been able to maintain a same successful routine? If so, this blog is for you!

Let me just end with a quote from Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’, that fueled this blog post. Coelho writes “when each day is same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize good things that happen every day that sun rises!”

Let’s go from same old, same old to ‘same new, same new’!

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Alex Garrett

Hey there! My name is Alex Garrett and I’m a talk radio producer, podcaster and blogger! Find out more @alexnyc1 ! Email Alex@alexgnyc.com