Off Centre

By RachelCarter

The power of the little things

Here's an interesting thing to do:
Search for quotes about "small things", find one you like - in my case: 
For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great ~  by Jose Ortega y Gasset
(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jose_ortega_y_gasset.html#KJOB3DWyDAV36Bis.99 ), think "that's nice", look up the author of the quote, decide you like the way he thinks, wish you'd realised you were not a dumb bimbo at school and had had the confidence to study philosophy.... Then find a quote you really don't like - in my case:
The biggest obstacle to wealth is fear. People are afraid to think big, but if you think small, you'll only achieve small things ~ by T. Harv Eker  (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/small_things.html#lCmyvsPw3Uxx8v0m.99), think "what an arsehole", look up the author of the quote, decide you really don't like the way he thinks, and feel glad you're not obsessed with money. Think how the guy really hasn't a clue about what's big and what's not.

Realise that people have different ideas about big and small things and in some cases that's probably dependent on what they're talking about. For example: the carpet covers a lot of the house; it is a very big thing, it is often strewn with black dog hair. But it is a small thing.

This viola is very small. It's very close to the ground in a small tub. The rest of the garden is a big old, dirty, brown, wintery mess. But this viola had the power to get me down on my hands and knees in a puddle on a cold day and take a photo. It gave me cause to concentrate on something other than myself, to wait for the sun to come back, to shut out everything else for a while and think only of a beautiful flower against a beautiful blue sky and the best way to focus my camera while grovelling on the ground. 
I've had a bad day (Evidence here:  January Fallout ). I felt better after taking this photo. I felt much better.
That's a big thing. And yet it's a small thing.

I'm glad it gave me the chance to put my weirdness into words. It's important for me to do that and yet I forget how therapeutic it is for me. 

It's only a small thing but it's massive.  

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