"The More Routine, The Less Life" Agree or Disagree?

     I was walking the dogs early this morning and I saw that quote on a card in the window at Copperfield's.  My first reaction was one of agreement.  Three cheers for busting out of the routine!  But then, I had to step back and consider the notion that routine offers me so much life.  My job is routine in that I get up every day, Monday through Friday, and take myself three blocks to work.  I have my stuff I need to do but my work there makes my life.  And there is also the routine of after work and the weekend.  That is my life.  Michael, Alex and Meg, bike rides and walking the dogs, reading and painting, laughing with friends and family - all of this is often routine but is also life.
    Busting out of routine?  Is that the way to live?  Yup, sometimes.  Embracing the little moments that are part of routine? Yup, that's life too.  I suppose I could use more of the busting out but I also know that I love my work, I love my life at home, and I consider myself incredibly blessed.  What more can I ask of life?  Is a trip to Nepal or New Zealand, or even San Francisco, essential for me to live life?  Do I have to "do something" every weekend or even one weekend a month to live life?  I think not.  I certainly want to be alive but I can know I am alive when I am tending to the emotional needs of a 12 year old.  I can know I am alive when the bike ride tells me that.  I can know I am alive when my face lights up and I dance while I am painting.
    Disagree.  Life is as much about the routine as it is about leaving routine behind.  Find it where you live it.