Blog prompt Friday: What do you do to remember and savor the little things in life?
I don't have the greatest memory when it comes to the little things in life and that highly frustrates me. For some reason, I can remember "big" events—those life altering moments, but, as you can probably tell by the name of this blog, I'm a big believer that the little things of life have just as much power to be life altering. But often I feel like those little things come and go without ever setting up residence in my brain or in my heart, and therefore, I either miss them and all their wonderful nuances or I only experience the pleasures they bring once and then they are gone.
I've done almost everything I can imagine to preserve such moments. I've started journals and then stopped—mostly because I was capturing so much information that it was becoming a burden. I've started prayer journals and then I stopped—mostly because I was writing the same things over and over, so I hardly saw the point. Probably not the most spiritual thing to admit, but it's the truth. I've started, and continued a quote book, and I use many of those quotes here at Little Nuances quite often. So, there's something to capturing the essence of a moment that intrigues me because I don't want to spend my life journaling a ton of details.
While I was in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago to teach at a writer's conference, I met up with friend named John Thurman. I first met John at the 2003 version of that same conference and we have become friends. As we hung out at the conference a couple of weeks, John kept pulling out a little leather bound notebook in which he recorded things he wants to remember. He had quotes, and practical tips, and other miscellaneous stuff. That jumpstarted my mind.
After I got home, I started thinking about carrying my own little notebook. I figured I'd call it my Little Nuances notebook and I use it to jot down any little thing that moves me—quotes, advice, a new idea for a book or article, prayers, or anything else that I want to experience more than once. And of course, it'll lead to tons of material for this blog—if you aren't already sick of me.
So, I stopped by Borders last night and picked up a Moleskin notebook. After I got home, I checked out the blogs I normally read each day, and I came across this post by Sheila O'Malley. In it she said something that became my first entry in my Little Nuances notebook: "I'm a big believer in pheromones. I am also a big believer in the fact that pheromones are, essentially, mysterious. And have to do with a mixture of body chemistry, past experiences, and plain old taste."
I've never heard of the word "pheromones," so I looked it up. Here's the definition: "A chemical substance secreted externally by some animals (especially insects) that influences the physiology or behavior of other animals of the same species."
I liked Sheila's post not only because it sent me to the dictionary—that's always a good thing, but because she went deeper in explaining "chemistry" between a man and a woman than I've ever heard before. I definitely want to remember this—and now I'll be able to because it's safely recorded.
Will I keep up with my new notebook? I have no idea. I start a lot of things that sound like a good idea at the time—only to chuck it a week or two later. I don't hold on to things that don't work for long. I just move on to something else. But I'm kind of hoping that this isn't one of those projects because it would be neat to look back on a pile of notebooks one day and have access to many of the little moments that shaped my life.
