Tiny Little Wonders…

Dear Ones,

It came to me in the middle of the night. I had to turn on the light and write it down. Tiny little wonders. I wasn’t sure why it felt so important but I knew I didn’t want to forget it. I went back to sleep and didn’t give it another thought until I was in the kitchen making coffee and that little phrase kind of hummed in my head. Tiny little wonders. And then I looked down and there, at my feet, was my own tiny little wonder, wee Molly, my little one-eyed chihuahua/corgi mix. She is the cutest, tiniest thing, my greatest love and an absolute delight.

I am not, by any stretch, a tiny woman! but I do love tiny things. Ladybugs, and dandelion seeds floating on the breeze, the birds and squirrels at the feeders (and yes, I have a special flat feeder just for the squirrels!), tiny little books are enchanting to me, and a terrarium with magical little gnomes and miniscule objects creating a woodland scene in a bowl, a doll house with tiny dolls and miniature household objects, little tealight candles and fairy lights, all of these things fill me with wonder.

That I love these things is evident in the art that I make. Maisie’s World paintings take a long time to draw before I paint them because they are full of details. I just shared the painting “Picnics Save Lives” for New Year’s Eve because it is a perfect evocation of a celebration, one possible right in your own home, with all your beloved things around you. People were having to celebrate at home or outside because of Covid. Maisie and I are agoraphobic so our lives take place, always, inside our homes, and yet we take great delight in the worlds that we can create right where we are.

And all of these things set me to thinking about where we all are, right now, in this moment in time, when Covid rages on with no end in sight, when world problems and social issues and political ideologies are so rampant in the news and everywhere around us that we ourselves feel as if we are shrinking into tiny, insignificant beings, lost in a world so big we may feel we are no bigger than a dandelion seed blown hither and thither on the wind, invisible, lost in the world around us. What can we do?

It is at this time of year that people make resolutions for the new year (How many ever really keep them? At nearly 67 I have longsince given up making them.) or the thing these last few years that has been popular is to choose “a word for the year.” This works for some people and more power to them, but it doesn’t work for me. I think it’s a grand idea but past the first weeks of the year I have forgotten all about it. These things all feel so outside of myself, projections into a future I have no way of knowing. This time last year could any of us have imagined we would live through such a terrible pandemic, and that a year later we would still be going through it? Most of us don’t have a crystal ball and frankly who would want one? The only way I can stay sane — always a challenge having lived with lifelong mental health issues — is literally to stay in the moment (such a tired old phrase, but also timeless, and true) and to really focus on what is here in my own small world, the tiny little wonders all around me.

I think that will be my practice for this year. No resolutions, no plans or promises, no word of the year, and maybe some days I will forget, but I have a notebook, actually a 9×12 sketchbook, that is always beside me. I make daily lists and doodle and jot down what I have always called “Notes, Quotes & Flashing Thoughts,” and I would like, each day, to make note of the tiny little wonders all around me. I think having a grasp on what is real and true for us right now, in this moment, in the world as we are now, all the things close and near and dear, all of the little things that we often overlook in our rush to do so many other things, is not only important but may be life-saving as we struggle to stay afloat emotionally in the current climate world-wide. I cannot do big things in the big world, but I can take notice of what is right here in mine, and in doing so I may find a bit of peace and comfort in my days. That might not sound like much but to my way of thinking it is no small thing.

For instance, right now, in this moment, I am writing this blog post to you, and my own tiny little wonder is right here with me, as she always is. Molly and I would like to wish you all the happiest, healthiest, safest new year filled with all the good that is possible, and may you find peace, no matter what is going on in the world around you, as best you can. Maybe stopping, taking a deep breath, and then letting your eyes take in all that is right where you are would be a good place to start.

Be like the tiny child who, if you take on a walk, will go so slow that you feel you are barely moving because they stop to look at everything. The tiniest wildflower you have ever seen is coming up through a crack in the sidewalk. How is that possible? A teeny tiny frog on a blade of grass that you would have missed if you weren’t moving at a snail’s pace to allow your toddler to see all the wonders of the world. So many tiny little wonders. Can we, at least in some moments each day, take the time to stop what we are doing and note these little things around us, and maybe pick them up, one at a time, and hold them in the palm of our hand and just marvel at their existence? It’s what I’m going to try to do. That is how I am living my way into 2021. No big plans or dreams or schemes, just living my life, and doing my work, and kissing wee Molly on the nose many times each day, and thanking God for all the tiny little wonders in my life. For me, right now, it is enough.

Part 2 ~ Tiny Little Wonders on YouTube is now up!