SMALL THINGS
Life is in the small things, small gestures, small moments, small lives…..
When my son was young we used to tell him he could do anything, that the world was his oyster so to speak. It was the era of parenthood where collectively we thought that kids needed to have their self esteem boosted, that it is all about possibilities and no one or no thought should hold you back.
Rather than think small we said think big. It didn't matter whether you had talent or not you can do it! There are actually some pretty funny Saturday Night Live skits making fun, as they will, of our generation of parenting style. A stone point years later my son asked me "Is it okay if I don't do something great?" The pressure we put on our kids and ourselves to do something big, to be seen, to be grand, to be noticed by the world.
I've come to believe life really is in the small things. The chance smile from a stranger, a tender moment between friends, the tiny delicate flower alive in the crack of the side walk..sometimes to my chagrin when I cannot get my well tended and watered plants to grow. These are the graces in life.
Recently working with a beloved client she asked me to push her out of the beige, to add more color if needed. Unpacking the tile we had gleaned from the showrooms my assistant commented about the lack of color, how beige they all were. I realized at that moment that the beige was not so much a safe move for my client but it is the materiality and texture that catches her eye. The way the stone is formed, the edges that are not so perfect, the iridescent flecks peaking through the natural material. These to me are small moments of enjoying the craftsmanship, the thoughtful way in which something is made.
I myself have always been attracted to these moments of appreciating the time and pain staking creativity. Whether my client and I, as we move forward in her project, keep to the beige I don't know. What I do know is that as she walks through her home and lives her life, she will have small moments of repose, little moments when she sees the tile and the rest of the world disappears as she enjoys the beauty of what is in front of her. The beauty of what has been created of clay & wood, or what stunning beauty has been forming for thousands of years just so we can enjoy it today.
As I go through this life with so much chaos and strife of late I will bid myself to stop and see, to take note of the friendly smile, the smallest gesture that brings so much life, beauty, and joy.