It’s the Little Things

During the pandemic I went through an art phase.

I use to go to craft shows and walk through art exhibits and admire all the talent. Occasionally there would be a piece that struck my fancy and sometimes came home with me. But as you know when the pandemic happened a lot of those types of venues shut down.

So I turned to social media. I discovered a lot of artists and shopped their stores. I covered the walls of my study with things that inspired me while I worked and wrote. They stared down at me as I sat at my desk, typing away answering student emails or recording a lecture, or coming up with my latest book twist. I have this small postcard I found on Etsy of an owl with the most penetrating stare; he sits on my wall right above my computer to mock me if I take too long of a break.

I nested in my office over the time I worked from home, and now during the evenings when I come home from work all that artwork still greets me like an old friend, asking how my day was. It’s comforting.

Even during the worrisome times my office was there for me, like when my husband went through his latest back surgery. He’d been having issues for a long time, and was coming up on having a back fusion done. The surgery went well—he mostly stayed in the sunroom watching television or playing on his Xbox while I worked in my study. It is almost one year out from his surgery date and he is doing awesomely well.

If there is one thing I take away from all that happened over the pandemic, it is that I adapt very well. I pivoted like crazy to make all my online classes a success, and kept up with my writing after work. I was able to be close by when my husband needed me, and even took up cooking (I’m still at baby ninja-level–you can read about there here and here). Over that time period I had a lot of fun along the way, even if I did hang out with a small group of people, by myself, or just doing mundane things.

Don’t take for granted those small things. They are what life is really about—not the big trips or safaris people would have you to believe. Sure it’s nice to go see a lion, but at the end of it you still have to come back to your normal everyday life, and it’s how you live that life, how happy you are with what you’ve built for yourself, that truly matters. Build a life you can live with.  

Update: For those that have been following for a while now you know that I usually post on Wednesdays. I think I’m going to change things up a bit and start posting on Mondays. Just something different to try, a new strategy to deploy. So next week look for my post on Monday.