Pleasure in the Small Things. . .

 

Very early in our dating relationship way back in graduate school (early 2001), my now wife the Grand Duchess Sonja, during one of our many circuitous conversations about this or that, noted the significance of the little things in life.  I recall being impressed by her thoughtful observation.  We might even have had that particular conversation while out on the ski trail in the midst of a snowy and extremely cold Minnesota February -- Our first actual "date" after several months of talking daily in the office -- although I am not entirely certain.  But I digress. 

Fast-forward to late 2023, and looking around with clear eyes, it seems that, sadly, the Advent and Christmas season seem to have become about giving or receiving the biggest, best, newest, or shiniest fill-in-the-blank.  The trend is not new, however, but has only accelerated since the rise of the online world and ( a few years later) social media from roughly the mid-1990s until today.  Television certainly played a role for a few decades and print media before that.

I humbly suggest that we slow down and (re-) learn how to find pleasure in the small things all around us.  The possible ways to do that are many.  Here are just a few examples.  Acknowledging someone else's presence.  A shared smile.  The exchange of a few kind words.  A handwritten letter or Christmas card to/from an old friend or acquaintance.  A fresh mug of coffee/tea/hot chocolate with marshmallows.  Holding hands with that special someone during a quiet walk together through the neighborhood or a handy park.  A happy wave at Santa Claus/Father Christmas as he greets your entry to the supermarket.  Helping others in need if at all possible.  Observing squirrels frolicking outside the window.  Watching songbirds at a nearby feeder.  Or sharing a few warm moments talking to our house pet as we rub their back and provide the coveted chin scratches to the sound of happy sighs or purring. 

The point is, these are just a few ways we might rediscover the small pleasure(s) that seem largely absent from so much of 21st century life.  Without a doubt, there are many other ways to do so too.  We just need to stop and think about it for a moment or three instead of walking around like pie-eyed zombies. 

To don my cynical cap for a moment, the world can be an ugly, awful place.  Indeed, we are witnessing that one more time with conflict, war, death, and displacement in at least two places on the globe in late 2023.  And then there is the usual ongoing ugliness that seems to have embedded itself firmly in the daily machinations of our political and judicial systems here in the United States.  And of course that has quickly trickled down into public life.  To digress for a moment, I don't know about you, but I am exhausted by it.  Clearly, history has taught us nothing.  I am constantly reminded of the 1936 poem by the Norwegian poet Arnulf Øverland Dare Not to Sleep.

Returning to the point at hand, there is nevertheless much that remains lovely about the world even in the face of our apparent determination to destroy ourselves.  That beauty is there.  We just have to find and bring it out.  I suggest that (re-) discovery might not be as difficult as it at first seems.  One way we might do so is through finding and taking greater pleasure(s) in the multitudinous little things that happen in our lives each day, and the various people who cross our paths.  And while this thought occurred to me as I ran a few seasonal Saturday errands midday yesterday, and actually enjoyed the experience, we might do better to remain conscious of the small pleasures, like those I suggest as well as various other (legal and healthy) options, the whole year round.

Sigh.  This post is veering dangerously near Christmas romcom territory, so it's time to stop now before Hugh Grant's attorneys contact me with a cease and desist letter.  I nevertheless hope readers might see my point.  The small pleasures in life, and indeed kindness are all around us and quite often cost little to nothing.  We simply need to open our eyes to the possibilities that surround us already.

-- Heinz-Ulrich