share the small,
beautiful things.

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

This morning my daughter brought me a dandelion from the backyard. Just a weed, really. But she held it out with both hands like it was made of gold. I put it in a glass of water on the counter and it made me cry in the best way. Some days gratitude looks like a yellow weed in a…

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“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.”

“Do small things with great love.”

My kid asked me today what my favorite color was and really listened to the answer. Then she told me hers. Then she asked me why I liked mine. I don't know the last time anyone asked me follow-up questions about something so small. I loved it.

Today a stranger held the elevator for me while I sprinted across the lobby. He didn't know me. He didn't have to. But he did. I think about that more than I should.

Made soup from scratch. Nobody asked me to.

“Do small things with great love.”

“Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard.”

My dad taught me to whistle. He's 82 now.

This sunset made me pull over.

“It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”

“We do not see the world as it is, we see it as we are.”

Found this in my old notebook. Still true.

First tulip of spring in my neighbor's yard.

“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”

“Joy is not in things; it is in us.”

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The mountains don't care about my deadlines. I needed that today.

Watched the lake freeze over this morning. Quietest thing I've ever seen.

Same road every day. Sometimes I remember to notice it.

The old pond in my mom's backyard. She planted all these trees by hand.

Got a handwritten letter in the mail today from my oldest friend. No occasion. Just four pages of 'here's what I've been thinking about.' I'm going to write her back tonight.

My grandma called today just to tell me she was thinking about me. No reason. No occasion. Just that. I'm 34 years old and I still need my grandma to call me for no reason.

“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.”

“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is rest.”

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”

The sky tonight looked like it had something to say.

I've been getting coffee at the same shop for two years. This morning the barista handed me my drink and said 'I hope today is gentle with you.' Simple sentence. But it unlocked something. I cried in my car and then I drove to work and I was okay.

“The days are long but the years are short.”

This morning my daughter brought me a dandelion from the backyard. Just a weed, really. But she held it out with both hands like it was made of gold. I put it in a glass of water on the counter and it made me cry in the best way. Some days gratitude looks like a yellow weed in a…

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I took the long way home tonight. Walked past a house where someone was playing piano with the windows open. Stopped for a full minute, just listening. Didn't know the song. Didn't matter. Kept walking and I felt like I'd been given a gift.

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”

My dog doesn't care that I'm tired. My dog doesn't care that I'm stressed. My dog cares only that I came home. Some nights that is everything.

Walked out of a meeting today feeling defeated. On the way back to my desk I passed a window with late afternoon sun pouring through. Stood there for maybe 30 seconds. The light did not fix my problem. But it reminded me I existed, that today existed, and that tomorrow would…

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“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”

I've been getting coffee at the same shop for two years. This morning the barista handed me my drink and said 'I hope today is gentle with you.' Simple sentence. But it unlocked something. I cried in my car and then I drove to work and I was okay.

My grandma called today just to tell me she was thinking about me. No reason. No occasion. Just that. I'm 34 years old and I still need my grandma to call me for no reason.

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”

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

The window at my grandmother's kitchen.

“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.”

Her fingers when she's concentrating.

“Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.”

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”

My cat knocked over a glass today and I watched it happen in slow motion and laughed out loud instead of being annoyed. I think that's growth.

“Start close in.”

Coffee, rain, a good book. That's all I needed.