I honestly believe that the little things are the most important. Today was full of those little, monumentally critical moments that I tell myself I’ll remember but by the weekend when the floor isn’t clean and Max tries to flush his pajamas down the toilet (again) and I’m chasing the dog down the street and my lipstick is missing… in the tides of the usual chaos, I’ll have forgotten. All the things that happen in a single day. All the people we brush against who change us. Who we change. I wish we had room in our brains to remember everything. But if we did, our brains would probably overload and we’d blow up. I suppose that’s why people write…
First off, this morning I had three hours. Count ‘em. Three amazing hours to do with what I wished. That is a rarity in my world. I took a friend a Caramel Latte. Then I drank my own Americano with a different friend. We talked about a very cool book idea and how busy women are. And then my son and I tried (and failed) to beat this stupid level on an x-box Ninja Turtle game. We ate nachos together. We mowed the grass. I dug up approximately 36 billion dandelions in my yard, and then it rained. Naturally a bike ride in the rain is necessary. We helped a neighbour look for a statue that was stolen from her yard (last summer when it was taken, it turned up in the middle of the road - a block away. No such luck this year). I was looking up links for my website and found out that an author I’ve toured with (a wonderful man named John Seagrave) had died two Octobers ago. A few tears there. Max (who boasts the best imagination in the entire universe) pretended he was a variety of bugs. He tried to impersonate each of them. It took time. Not all bugs move quickly, you know. Then, when all was quiet again, quite by accident I came across a blog entry by a student I had last year. I’ve never been to nextopia before, so I doubt if she ever meant for me to read it, but it talked about how my book made her wonder about me - as a person with experiences - and how one particular passage about knowing yourself and just having faith in your resilience even though you might not find it in the moment made her wonder if I could read her mind - it touched me. A lot. And now I’m debating whether to join nextopia just so I can leave a comment. I think I’d tell her that she reminds me of me when I was in high school. And that even though the character in the book wasn’t me, I do believe that part. About having faith in the world and knowing that resilience is always living but sometimes just quiet. But I’m pretty sure she never expected me to see the blog. So I probably won’t. The day ended when I discovered my dog had eaten a lego spiderman. You don’t want to know how I discovered it.
What kind of tiny, wonderful, amazingly important things are happening to you today? Maybe write them down so your brain won’t explode…
Yesterday I found a Tim Hortons in this strange city. It was just a coffee, but was is amazing how that familiar taste made me feel like I was in the comfort of my own home again!
July 24th, 2007 at 4:51 amAh… Never underestimate the power of familiar coffee in a strange city. Even in Vegas one of the criteria for choosing a hotel is if from the elevator to the Starbucks is less than a one minute jaunt. Drink one for me today.
July 24th, 2007 at 6:21 amI knew a little girl many, well maybe not so many years ago, who also had a very active imagination. Hummmmmmm wonder where Max got his imagination. And I just loved the fact that you went riding in the rain sounds like a friend of mine. She too would do something just like that. Glad to have found you.
July 24th, 2007 at 5:47 pmCarol…. The little girl sounds absolutely fabulous. But probably she was a bit of trouble once and a while. And most likely her mother wouldn’t have survived without having wonderful friends. Like you, maybe….
July 24th, 2007 at 6:37 pmI’m glad you came to visit! Come back often.xoxox D