the little things on my mind

It's Sunday night and I'm spent.

It's the kind of weekend that's spent working on the little things. So often we wait for the big things that will define us - a degree, a particular job title, a promotion or a product launch. But life isn't lived in the big things.

I got an email earlier this evening from a friend of mine (and I hope you don't mind that I quoted this):

"[...] i'm glad that you post. particularly with the material that you do because if you tried to share this information on an individual basis, i might never have heard you "talk" about all the things and topics that you blog about. in fact, your blog actually helped me refine my "public health" eye to include a design element. plus your references to various books and articles inspired me to read them too and find ways for them to relate to my work and passions. [...] 

so basically, thank you for blogging. i know it's hard but i'm glad that you do.

It's a small thing, and I get a fair amount of emails about the blog, but it made a difference. In a world of big things, a small thing like a thank you can change everything.

Lehrer writes,

"This is life as it's lived - our epiphanies inseparable from our chores, our poetry intermingled with the prose of ordinary existence."

If we live intentionally, we design our lives to take care of the poetry. But in doing so, we sometimes forget to appreciate the beauty of the prose.

So tonight, some snapshots of life's ordinary moments as they're lived - small celebrations among the chores.

I laugh at this at least once a day. The line about dry cereal? So true.

A small tradition that's still going strong. Better Than Ezra at Center Stage.

Sawra making friends on our weekly pilgrimage to the Piedmont Dog Park.

A little part that's a big part of my life right now.

A little space in a cab with seven others.

The simple joy of using fat Sharpies vs. skinny Sharpies. You know you know what I'm talking about.

Sometimes the little things are actually really big things - wearing the insanely huge ACC championship ring, looking far less cool than the owner.

I was babysitting the little cousins on Friday night, and we happened to be watching Cartoon Network. I wondered aloud why in the world they show human tetris on Cartoon Network, of all channels, when my 8-year-old cousin piped in, "People like to watch other people get smushed by foam walls and pushed into pools of water!"

Yes, sometimes, it's the little things in life.