Simple Stuff, 2011 (also on habit)“The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things . . . the trivial pleasure like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.”
-Barbara Pym
It was around noon today when I read this quote. I was reading a Sadie Stein piece on The Paris Review blog. I liked the form. Isn't Sadie Stein a great name? I think so. The quote was in her piece.
I like reading about, watching, and discussing the trivial things that happen to people as they walk through their days. I realize Sadie Stein's days are far more interesting than mine, but she inspires me to relive some of my own little things.
Things such as waking up and still feeling the salt in my hair after a long walk beside the bay yesterday. Observing a man in a white t-shirt early this morning, carefully straightening the interior of a closed restaurant. The light he worked in was so beautiful. Too bad they only open for dinner. The feeling of having an unknown person just behind me, nipping at my heels as I descend a hill. Writing with my grey Le Pen because I cannot stand the new mechanical pencils I bought. The taste of a slice of pear cranberry tart. Like it or not, such small things make up the bulk of our lives.
Lately I've been thinking about the way I sometimes allow my days to happen, to take me away. It can be nice. I want to allow a little of the taking to continue. Relinquishing a small amount of control holds the possibility of being presented with something I wouldn't have pursued on my own. But I also want to make more choices and achieve a balance that makes the regular days feel rich and full and chosen. There are only so many.
A Week in Culture: Sadie Stein, Editor
But I don't think we can make those moments happen.
ReplyDeleteIf we're lucky we're aware of being in that moment.
Today I threw open the window in the living room and took a big gulp of autumn.
It made me smile it smelled soooo good.
I love the small things. Thanks for giving them air time.
xo Jane
This is most excellent. It can be equally hard to do this at work as at home. After reading your post this morning I tried to notice little things I liked about my job and office today. Thanks Chez!
ReplyDeleteI like the way you put it, of allowing one's days to happen. Perhaps in this way, the prosaic -the familiar- becomes a discovery each time.
ReplyDeleteLots of magic in this dear little post.
ReplyDeleteI like "allowing my days to happen" too. Your photos? Are getting lovelier and accompany your beautiful words perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent this has been my goal in being with my son - an awareness of the little moments in the everyday along with making sure we include some balance and create opportunity. I always know when we've arrived at the right balance - we belong in the moment.
ReplyDeleteI think opening our eyes is the first step to appreciating the little things but as flwrjane says, we can't make them happen. I think of Cartier Bresson's photos, how he learned to wait for that decisive moment from hunting expeditations. His photos are often about these little moments that make life so interesting. Your little moments are truly wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh I hear ya. To chose between productivity or spontaneity ... though I'm a firm believer in spending large amounts time drifting and dreaming, and letting things unfold naturally!
ReplyDeleteAre those small pleasure so 'trivial', in Barbara Pym's word, I wonder? Or, unlike a lot of the big stuff, are they the essence of being personally alive?
ReplyDeleteas artists, we straddle two worlds---the one we are shaping consciously (like my daily/weekly "to-do" list) and the one that we open ourselves up to, mainly by paying attention, being present, opening up to the all the possibilities. it's a dance, a deft balance in the creative process.
ReplyDeleteto the great wonder of small things...
i think these moments exist every day, it's our awareness that has to catch them. It's like for me this fall has seemed so much more bright and colorful than the other years: because I was watching those leaves, daily, observing their smallest change...
ReplyDeleteI like how you say "a balance that makes the regular days feel rich and full and chosen", especially "and chosen"
No, we can't make those moments happen; but I think that we could allow ourselves to pay attention to the joys of those small moments.
ReplyDeleteI love the little moments you've detailed. 'There are only so many': despite recent bereavements I still forget this too often. Today I'll be more conscious.
ReplyDeleteI do like that quote...very much so. It is indeed the little, almost inconsequential moments that make up a life...are they not the glue that hold the bigger pieces together. I have to say Denise I thoroughly enjoy your blog and the way it inspires me to ponder life in general...it gives me the time to pause and consider, which I often forget to make time for in the hurly-burly of this'n that. It also reminds me to think more about words and writing...their form, shape and meaning...I used to do this on a daily basis when working and it is one thing I miss.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like the idea of allowing days to just happen...I listened to an interesting interview with a scientist yesterday who talked about making the time to observe, to think and consider...he spoke of how it is so easy these days to be plugged in...he rides the bus each morning and sees so many people 'plugged' in...perhaps we should be just sitting and observing what passes us by...
Very lovely, thoughtful post. Don't we all too often go through our days so preoccupied with our to-do list that we miss those lovely little moments? No, we can't make them happen, but I think they are happening all the time and it's just a matter of whether we notice or not. Thanks for the reminder to be present!
ReplyDeletethat would be so great... but i find it really hard to stop the happening of the day most of the time. maybe with time it gets easier.
ReplyDeleteI hope each one of you are noticing something special in your day today. xx, Denise
ReplyDeleteYour posts often make me think and think and think. Your words so close to my thoughts/ideas/worries right below the surface. Since coming home I have managed to capture that magical equilibrium of following spontaneous moments and getting things done. I am so appreciative of this fleeting time, the joyful celebrating of the small things of life.
ReplyDeleteI envy your days. It sounds like their pace is a slow and enduring one. Right now i feel like i run from place to place. Breathing fast. i miss slow moments. lingering around a thought.
ReplyDeleteyour text actually made me calm.
Personally, I think your moments are interesting and maybe even magical. As is the fact that you are aware of them. I saw that this picture was included in habit...that's what I love about that space...ordinary people doing ordinary things. Yet the act of acknowledging those things is part of what makes it so special.
ReplyDeleteRachel, Thank you. I agree with you about the habit blog. It's a special space.
ReplyDelete