5 Big Reasons I Decided to Write About The Little Things

I wanted to write a blog series about the little, sometimes overlooked pleasures in life for a few reasons:

1) In a world of social media highlight reels, we forget the small things that sustain us….

….like the couch we sit on as we read these posts, or the indoor plumbing we’re using as we scroll through Instagram (be sure to wash your hands when you’re done reading this, and maybe your phone too). Feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction bubble to the surface as we look at these well curated online lives. Don’t believe it for a second. Everyone farts, has bad days and looks like shit when the front camera turns on. By looking away from this barrage of big beautiful moments and seeing the seemingly small stuff right in front of us, fomo and anxiety starts to fall by the wayside.

 

2) Focusing on gratitude for the little things can help save the planet

The more we take and use without conserving or reusing what we already have, the more we impact the environment and its limited resources. As a result, practicing satisfaction for what you currently possess is a very real way to turn the tide of climate change. Gratitude for what we have isn’t just a healthy state of mind, it’s a potential ecosystem saving way of life. By properly utilizing the little stuff we already own, we can become better stewards of this rather exhausted planet. 

 

3) Yoga and meditation increase awareness for the little things

This is a theme that I’ve seen emerge in my writing and teaching this year. These awareness practices pull you back into the present moment; a place comprised of extraordinary little miracles. And I don’t say miracles in a TV evangelist sense. No one will be healed, walking across a stage by the end of this blog. I say ‘miracles’ for the things we may never fully understand yet know to be the most real entities we will ever experience. The small words that confound yet uplift us: love, hope, home, and yes even the gift of fear. (Also ‘fuck’ is quite possibly one of the most satisfying small words to say.)

 

4)  I wrote about the little things to honour my grandparents.

Quickly switching gears from my potty mouth. Not that my Ma ever shyed away from salty language. It was my time with my grandparents and the creation of long lasting memories that I now find the most compelling things in my life.

How the smell of Dove soap reminds me of my Ma, lavender of my Grandma, red wool sweaters of my grandfather. The amount of comfort these childhood memories bring me in an adult world of great uncertainty is beyond reckoning. The appreciation for the tiny, beautiful pleasures in life each of them instilled in me, I feel compelled to honour and live out in my daily life.

 

4) Anti-hustle messaging

Another theme in my writing I saw emerging was a slow down, almost anti-hustle theme. In a world full of messages to constantly be in motion, accomplish things, BE AMAZING OR ELSE — it makes it nigh near impossible to “Just Be” which is kind of the ultimate thing we search for in yoga. We forget to witness and participate in the spectrum of amazing to dull experiences we find in the world around us. We are so busy trying to exert our influence on the world (myself included), create an impact, have a purpose DO ALL THE THINGS we forget the precarious gift we have to even exist. We forget to soak up the small moments one breath at a time. I’m not saying be lazy and do nothing. What I’m suggesting is do the work – and then take a moment to feel the result of a job well done. 

 

5) I’m gonna be really bold and quote myself instead of Rumi – an excerpt from an earlier “it’s the little things” blog. I think sums things up pretty well.

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“Yoga (and meditation) increases our ability to notice the little things. By asking us to go slower, notice breath, tiny and sometimes intense sensations in the body our awareness expands. By waking up to these things, we get the chance to culminate tender moments that, when strung together, create a pearl necklace of stunning, natural beauty.”

 

So there you have it. 5 reasons I felt compelled to write about the little things.  I hope to carry my feelings of gratitude for the tiny stuff of life with me into the new year. I also hope this point of view has been helpful for you in some ‘small’ way. Namaste and start small y’all.