Errands, putterings, noodlings, piddlings, wreck-and-ordering…those little voyages we take to hunt and gather things and get stuff done are an integral part of our lives. While the errands are excursions with a purpose, in contrast, chores are those domestic obligations usually performed at home. In Old English, an “aerend” means message or mission with a duty. Running errands is often a mission of duty and yet satisfying in a way other actions in our lives may not be most days. We wander out into the world with a route or list to follow: stop here to drop off the dry cleaning; pick up the prescriptions; don’t forget to purchase those needed supper items at the grocery store… When we complete the route, the results are clear and usually achievable with a tangible and most satisfying conclusion.

To emphasize this point, I recently stumbled upon the social-media show “Errands” (from filmmaker Noah Blau) where someone is accompanied on their mission. Why is it a show so apparently ordinary has become incredibly popular? According to the creator: “Beauty is found in the minutiae, and the things that are banal are often the most interesting. It’s those in-between moments of life where growth and realization happen.” The genius of “Errands” is how it provides a window into the personalities and preoccupations of its participants. A stranger appears and announces the day’s errand. You are immediately privy to their internal monologues as they carry out the mission through serendipitous conversations and pit stops along the way. Each quick episode is a couple of minutes long and wastes no time in establishing a scene with introductions. We are suddenly passengers taken on a private expedition, instantly thrust into someone’s personal life. Even when someone does not accomplish the errand successfully, the process is fascinating. Each of us can relate; we appreciate a “to do” errand list as well as the satisfaction of checking-off each accomplishment.

When visiting others away from home, it is an interesting study to observe the highlights of their daily lives, especially while running errands with them. From what they listen to in the car and how they organize their route to what their chosen stops represent and who they encounter, these errand-running experiences reveal tidbits into daily lives. My paternal grandmother would occasionally enlist a friend to join in and run errands with her. This allowed them time to catch up and visit in person when their daily lives were often too difficult to schedule formal social time. As they both aged, running errands together also allowed them companionship and additional safety during the process (especially when one drove better than the other). On the other hand, I have a friend who strictly completes her errands in solitude because they are the rare break from “people duties.” She swears by “the soft-touch socialization I’m forced into while out and about…you know…the familiar clerk at the pharmacy, the neighbor in the produce section, or the former student in the line at the post office…each errand is its own little episode.”

Yes, errands get us out of our personal spaces away from our chores and into community with others. While it is tempting to hibernate or rely on delivery services, running errands captures that clever combination of the mundane with the meaningful and the magic of mingling tasks while collecting little epiphanies along the errand journey. For the love of errands, here’s hoping your next errands bring their own unique episodes and epiphanies.