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Little things.
Little, little things. That cliché belief in small acts, gestures, or whatnots adding up to larger, immeasurable outcomes? I’m a believer.
It’s only logical.
But it’s also romantic. It’s comforting. It’s one of those phrases we can say and believe it, like a balm, rather than just pouring empty words over an open wound.
Click. Click. Clickity-clack. Tap. Clack-clack-clack. Click. Click. Cicky-clack. Tap.
Click. Clack. Click-click-click. Tap. Click.
Last week I was sitting in my apartment building lobby, writing. My hands were flying across the keyboard. I’m a fast typist, and a faster thinker…so there are just as many key clicks as there are backspace taps. It’s a part of my writing process.
Click. Click. Clack. Tap. Tap. Clack-clack-clack. Click.
The sun was streaming in the almost floor-to-ceiling windows. People were walking their dogs on the street. Folks were coming home from work. They would glance at me at the hightop table, click-clacking away, and they’d go on their merry way.
I felt a surge of joy fill me from my fingertips to the tips of my toes as I pulled back and realized I had been listening to myself write. I’d been enjoying hearing the clicking, and the clacking, and the tapping. It felt good. It sounded nice. It was encouraging in a way that I’ve been struggling to put into words other than:
little things
We don’t always notice the little things. But when we do, they’re a little magical. They’re what can make or break our day. And that afternoon, those little sounds were making my day. They were a little reminder that yes, me, I am a writer. And I am writing.
It wasn’t an “I’m going to write” moment.
It wasn’t an “I wrote something” moment.
It was happening. Right then. There. In that lobby, at that time. And I had been observant enough to notice. And that, was magical. That was a key fitting a lock. That was finding the missing puzzle piece.
little things
I’m not sure I even remember what I was writing. It’s no longer important, because what I remember was the emotion. The insurmountable joy of being present and accepting of all that is and all that was. It was a relief to not be chasing the waves or fighting the current. I was a little thing myself in that moment and it was pure bliss.
Let’s celebrate the little things in life.
Enjoy these 11 quotes and may they bring you closer to your own moment of acceptance.
1. “The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn
2. “The older I get, the more I’m conscious of ways very small things can make a change in the world. Tiny little things, but the world is made up of tiny matters, isn’t it?” ~ Sandra Cisneros
3. “It’s the little things, I expect. Little treasures we find without knowing their origin. And they come when we least expect them. It’s beautiful, when you think about it.” ~ T.J. Klune
4. “I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” ~ Leo Buscaglia
5. “I’m not sure why, but when a person expects something to last forever, they don’t notice the little things. It’s only when the clock is ticking all those little things add up and become bigger.” ~ Shannon Wiersbitzky
6. “There are many things that seem impossible only so long as one does not attempt them.” ~ André Gide
7. “You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” ~ Andy Warhol
8. “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
9. “Life is just a lot of everyday adventures.” ~ Carol Ryrie Brink
10. “I was especially perceptive to all things beautiful that morning—raspberries in blue china bowls were enough to make the heart sing.” ~ Irene Hunt
11. “He who does not wish for little things does not deserve big things.” ~ Belgian proverb
~
author: Molly Murphy
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