Dear Reader:

When Anne and I took a two-week international creativity workshop almost a decade ago in France (Can it really be that long ago?) one of the activities we discussed and practiced doing was learning how to take something big/ broad and bring it down to something miniscule…while living in the  moment.

The name of the lesson was “Miniature Worlds” or something similar.

Some examples we were given were things like: Study a  famous tapestry in an art museum by purposefully looking for a miniscule tear or place where one thread has come untangled and then follow it. You will leave the “masterpiece” seeing something more special than just one overall image/impression.

Questions will always remain: Who lost the thread momentarily and never caught the mistake until the tapestry was done….was the seamtress day-dreaming about something or someone else while working for hours, days, or even years on this piece?

Perhaps…did the artist purposefully drop a stitch or even a tiny splotch of a different color (from the paint brush) just to see if some observer in the future would see the tiny “flaw” and become immersed in it over the overall finish?

Instead of just taking a tourist photo shot of a famous edifice in France like the Eiffel Tower…step back…perhaps lie down in the grass beside a park bench near the historical site and look at the famous building from the viewpoint of a field of clover…what does the Eiffel Tower look like from a bee’s perspective or a colony of ants?

I could go on and on…but you get the idea.

It is too easy to overlook the “little things in life” if we are always looking up and not down. If we are clamoring so hard for that next rung on the corporate ladder that we overlook the tiny wildflowers living under the bottom rung.

In a psychology article on this subject the author discusses our theme today with a few new perspectives.

Source: World of Psychology: “Enjoying the little things in Life” Linda Sapadin, Ph.D

We’re often bombarded with messages that admonish us: “think big,” “go for the gold,” “climb the ladder of success.” And do all this NOW! Yet when we follow this advice, we’re more apt to feel exhausted, inadequate or both.

Why should this be so? What’s wrong with “thinking big?”

Nothing is inherently wrong with it. But when you believe that “big” is better than “small,” that “stretching to the limit” is better than “taking it easy,” that “be the best you can be” trumps “appreciating who you are,” you’re simply not being fair to yourself.

Not everybody wants to spend their life climbing the corporate ladder while stepping on the footsteps of others behind them, in order to achieve their goals in life. (Actually that is a good thing because there isn’t enough room for everyone at the tip-top of the ladder.)

For at the top, it’s lonely; the air is thin. And there’s no place else to go but down.

Some of us would rather…study all the colors of the rainbow…take a front row seat twice a day in front of the sun going down or the moon coming up.

The “little things in life” are what we will remember and appreciate when we reflect on days gone by. A little thing may be a fun evening with friends. It may be the joy of learning something new. It may be listening to the giggles of your kids. It may be the warm feeling you get when you’ve done a simple kindness for a friend or a stranger. It may be noticing nature bloom and blossom.

If you neglect to enjoy these little things, what are you left with? It’s the daily struggles, the disappointments and the disasters that plop on our doorsteps when we least expect it.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see life anew watching Rutledge participate in his end of the year field day events and later keep Lachlan while big brother and cousin Madeleine went to the Children’s Museum with their mothers.

It is the “little things” that produce the permanent memories…not the big things in life. So yesterday I had the opportunity to stop and savor the moments with the “little ones” who surround me.

We all arrived at  Rutledge’s pre-school on Whipple road in Mt. Pleasant with cool breezes, blue skies, and just gorgeous overall weather…the perfect “field day.”

Rutledge was a little timid at first and didn’t want to participate in anything…we later reasoned he was afraid we were going to leave him at school so he just wanted me to hold him.

But as time went by….he loosened up…and the slide was definitely his choice of entertainment.

We all had a picnic on the grass…the school was grilling out hamburgers and I was ready to chomp down!

Monday….Rutledge will be ‘moving on up’ to the toddler 1 class with new teachers…and that’s the problem about loving “little things” …they grow up and become “big things.” That is why my iphone camera is attached to my hand…I am trying to capture memories…the kind that no one can ever take away.

We parted ways after the field day….Lachlan and I went back to Walsh and Mollie’s while the rest of the crew went to the Children’s Museum.

Walsh is working nights…and he had just gotten up when we arrived bringing him a shake and nuggets from Chick Filet. Then  he headed back to get a few more “zzzz’s” and Lachlan and I hung out in Rutledge’s room.

Lachlan is a snuggler…he likes to burrow right beside you….he doesn’t like sleeping alone…or on his back…but loves sleeping against your chest….so that is what we did. (In the first photo I ended up taking a little cat nap with him….so peaceful-in the second picture I thought a “mini-me” doll would help him sleep in the crib…not happening…Walsh said it was a little freaky)

In the end…the two top choices for sleeping positions for Master Lachlan are me and tummy…we watch him carefully but he is tummy man.

Walsh and Mollie have been trying to teach Rutledge his last name….at first he parroted it back right on cue….”Rut Rut Dingle!” Then he decided he liked “Rut Rut Ding-truck” better…so (for the better or worse) that is his name right now. I’ve heard worse.

So until tomorrow….thank you God for days where memories are born and stored forever…the “little things” days that bring the big rewards…the best rewards.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Here are some new “little things” planted alongside the house (daylilies) and new “little things” blooming in the garden..

Remember…we saw a tiny piece of this hydrangea (first bush to bud) bloom a couple of weeks ago…and now  look at its beauty.

(Aren’t those gerber daisies amazing and the cone blooms on the oakleaf hydrangea look like fairy blooms -you’re right Anne!)