The Little Things are the Big Things

I had just finished up doing a small shoot at my in-laws when I walked outside to check on my niece & nephew, Ruby & Wyatt, twin two year olds! Dirt, rock-n-roll & fun are the pastimes of preference for these budding artists. As I sat on the porch watching them play with some of Grandma’s vintage finds, toys that were nothing more than pieces of colored wood cut into different shapes, I witnessed a contentment & a joy that I couldn’t help but ponder upon. These two weren’t thinking back to last night when they were beside themselves in tears because they lost their paci's, they weren’t thinking about tomorrow & what they should pack to bring to their dad’s or stressing about whether it would rain tonight for their play date at the park. They sat there in the moment, placing one colored circle after the next onto a wooden stick, loving every moment of it. The funny thing is, they could’ve been at Disney World meeting Mickey himself, riding Peter Pans Flight & been just as happy as they were here on the front porch. Ruby & Wyatt have something that we tend to loose as we grow up, a contentment & true joy that isn’t based on a place, activity or stuff.  They are completely enthralled & captivated by the simple, the little things.

As we grow up it takes more to satisfy & make us happy. I suppose there’s plenty of reasons why this happens. We live in such excess here in America that we’re no longer satisfied with the little things. We are told that we need this product or that lifestyle to really be happy.  We have so much available to us that we become overwhelmed with options & activities.

And then there’s our beloved social media. We have access to see what everyone else is doing all of the time & well, sometimes their lives look way more exciting & fun than the lives we are living. So we feel a lack, longing & a discontentment.

Sometimes we end up getting older & not loving ourselves the way we used to. We start to discover that the world is a broken place in which we now experience real pain & loss & therefore are less happy within. We begin to focus more on our flaws and see ourselves through filters of shame, hurt, & inadequacy. Discontentment sets in & we in turn need more to make ourselves feel ok. We medicate with things & activity.

At this point in my life I’m on a quest to simplify. Slowing down & noticing the beauty in the things that I’ve been flying right by. I’ve started by having tea time each week with my 87 yr old grandmother, listening to her tell stories of her life. I’m also taking time out of my day to have meaningful, set aside time with my kids. I’m laying in my hammock more, reading, taking myself on dates. You know what? The more I slow down & simplify, the more peace & contentment I experience. It’s not the message I am being sold…the more, the bigger, the faster…the happier.  It’s just not so.

Ruby & Wyatt thank you for being you & showing me the beauty that comes with living in the moment & enjoying the simpler things in life. I wanna be like you when I grow up.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” — Robert Brault