This past weekend I paid close attention to some of the details in my life. On Saturday afternoon, our daughter relaxed in the middle of our bed. She looked so comfortable, in fleece cupcake pants and matching shirt. Her little belly exposed, I decided to tickle her. Her laughter filled every crevice of our room, a deep and innocent laugh that screams joy. This detail stayed with me throughout the day. I kept repeating to myself, ‘That belly laugh will not last forever.” This thought ambled in my mind, carrying with it both joy and sorrow.
I wonder about all those moments that happen in a flicker and then, just as they occur, in a flash, they are gone. We will never experience the exact replica of that single detail. How many of those little details are we honoring?
I walked through the weekend, soaking in, all the minutia. On Saturday morning, the desert filled with rain, I listened to the drops landing on the window. The rhythm of the drops created a beautiful symphony of sounds. Rain is a rare occurrence in the desert, so my natural inclination is to listen and sink into the listening.
The weekend days plunged on, full of these tiny little details, the real beautiful of my life. My daughter returned from a birthday party, where she collected “jewels.” She laid each colorful sparkle on the kitchen counter, her eyes lighting up, every time I told her that blue gems were sapphires, while the green gems were emeralds. This conversation reminded me of all that she is absorbing, learning everyday, and I am so privileged that I am able to do the teaching.
Sunday, the desert turned back to its true personality, the sun rising, the sky blue, and the mountains drenched with light. I ran in the morning, a painful trek on a small hill, my knees resisting my forward motion. A lingering cold followed as I moved through the streets. Running in the quiet offers a peace that allows me to embrace all of the details in my life, good, bad, and in-between.
In the afternoon, my husband, daughter and I decided to attend a Sunday afternoon matinée. Our daughter sat in the middle, her eyes glued to the screen, she reached for the popcorn. Both our hands collided inside the bag and we both smiled and giggled at the same time.
The small details. They will not last forever. But it is important to honor their importance.
IMAGE BY PHILLIPC FLICKR VIA CREATIVE COMMONS
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
Oh, those lovely details, yes.
I don’t worry so much about hanging on to them. Perhaps I have enough stored in my memory that spill over into dream or even mood. Perhaps because I have some captured in photographs, and others in words in my journals.
They leave an aura of good feeling, I think – even if not the precision of their colors or lines, and that warm sensation can sustain us when we’re searching for more in a time of less.
Beautiful details of beautiful moments. The best way to honor them is to be in the moment and feel them and it sounds like you are doing just that. 🙂
Ayala said it best…beautiful details of beautiful moments. I need to do this more often!
Beautiful writing, Rudri. In retrospect we find the small details so much more important than the seemingly big issues of the full picture. I wish I’d realized this when my children are small…it’s wonderful you’ve discovered this while your daughter is young. Treasure those moments, my friend.
Thank you for reminding me, yet again, how I need to just stop. Look. Lean in.
Amen and thanks, as always, for the reminder.
What a great reminder. The little moments MAKE our life:))
There are definitely details that I wish I could bottle. I otherwise try to photograph or get on video or describe in a journal. But sometimes there are moments whose emotions I cannot capture except in memory. The laugh as you describe is one of them, or the feeling of serenity when I watch my son sleep. I sometimes photograph him when he’s sleeping and realize that the flash and camera just don’t come close to capturing my mood and feeling of the moment. So I just have to remember, and accept that some memories and details are perhaps so special because they cannot be relived.
This was so fun to read. Like reliving some of those small moments with you. The rain, the belly laugh, the cupcake pjs, the run. When we remember, it’s usually moments we recall – not whole months or years. Little snippets of joy, sorrow, refreshment, love.