Well, compared to yesterday, today went more smoothly. Although I still overslept, and skipped working out, (Freshman 15 is real... whelp....) I did manage a to put together a stylish outfit, apply makeup WITH successful contouring and highlighting, and even eat a piece of toast spread with vegetable cream cheese. Not quite the 10/10 morning I still long for, but folks, we are getting closer! Bit by bit, I'm figuring it out. Life's kind of like that, I think. Since we aren't clanky, steel robots, we don't work perfectly. We can't run a data sequence that makes us function exactly to our imagined specifications. We're warm, breathing, emotional humans, and we just do our best. And little by little, we do better and better. Whether we can ever actually perfect a routine with no slips or glitches, I don't know. But hey, if I figure it out, I'll letcha know. Ah my head is spinning with theories and questions and concepts... time to change the subject.
I've been thinking a lot about the phrase "It really is the little things!" This is a phrase coined by who knows who, who knows when. It's one commonly used in speech, but what does it really mean? It seems like something tacked on to the end of a philosophical conversation had by moms in the elementary school parking lot. I can imagine them. They've been talking about the woes and challenges of life for 20 or so minutes. Their respective children are tugging, begging them to wrap up the discussion. With jangling keys, they begin to turn toward their cars, but not without ending the genuinely deep verbal exchange they've just had, with a cliche, like.... "It really is the little things!" Or another, like "Well it all works out in the end!" Or "Only time will tell!" It's these strange little phrases that we, like these theoretical mothers, often stamp our conversations with, in an effort to neatly close a subject. BUT WHAT DO THESE PHRASES MEAN?
In particular, back to the main subject of this post: what does the phrase, "It really is the little things" mean? After actually pondering this question, I've come up with some answers to satisfy my ever-probing mind. I think this phrase means that little joys can combine to bring us big joy. Lovely small things happen each day, call them "tender mercies" if you will, and all of these small things, when put together, equal us being in a good mood.
Yeah, it'd be cool if lots of lovely big things happened each day- but that's pretty impossible. I don't know many people who have days that consist of getting a luxury car gifted to them, inheriting the Chanel dynasty, winning an all expenses-paid vacation to Santorini, and finding a Tiffany's ring on their front porch. As fun as it would be, it just doesn't really happen. These type of days don't exist, and I'm actually glad that they don't. Because if they did, happy things would lose their elite spark. If each day was only full of happy things, those things would cease to be happy. They'd simply be normal, normal and expected. It's like if Christmas was every day. It would stop being special, because it would stop being rare. It would be routine, nothing different, nothing to look forward to and cherish. But when little gems of lovely happen amidst the hell that life normally spews at us, they feel oh so precious.
Those perfect days don't really happen. But what DO really happen are days full of tiny, beautiful moments. Lighting fall-scented candles that crackle, and sputter, and cast ribbons of creamy contentment throughout your bedroom while you study. Cooking a brownie in a coffee mug, topping it with peanut butter ice cream, and watching as the ice cream meltily eases into the pumice-like texture of the brownie. Watching season one of Gilmore Girls and feeling your heart warm at how hideously cozy Rory's sweaters are. Reading the latest issue of The Vermont Country Store's magazine and admiring the idyllic fall experience of Vermont, complete with candied maple syrup and flannel pajamas.
Yes, these things all happened today.
And yes, it was lovely.
It really is the little things, isn't it?
It is really is the little things that make us happy.
