Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Lusciousness of Little Things

Hey, guess what? You blogger friends are amazing—simply amazing.
I LOVE you guys!
Thank you for the thrill of your comments. Boy are they ever loved!
I've been so crazy busy with summer wonderfulness that I haven't answered your comments and followed you back like I wanted to. But never fear, I'll be there! Just wanted you all to know how LOVED  you are.   




Speaking of love— 
(No, I’m not mixed up and under the delusion that it’s February 14th –Hello, no snow.)
I spotted this charming sight the other day and had to push the little silver button on the top of my camera to record the vision. ( How’s that for mixing up the usual snapped a photo. What? Just stick with the old way? Fine, fine—ye avoiders of creative re-phrasing.)

Now quit getting sidetracked. Stick with the story here.

Ahum, so I saw this Blue Bug of Love the other day and laughed out of sheer delight at the sight.



DID YOU ESPY THE WINDOW?


I love it! The message-writer expressed himself with uncommon ingenuity and that's what made me love it. He didn't rent a billboard to proclaim his love, or skydive from a cliff floating rose petals down on his beloved. He did it in a simple yet powerful way.

You know, I think writing is like that too. Along with the grand explosions and lightning strikes of happenings in our stories, the seemingly little things add richness, dimension, and life to a story. The setting, characters, mood, etc, are enhanced by them and we're immersed in the tale. Not too much, mind you. Cinnamon is scrumptious, but the whole container would be Death-by-Cinnamon.

Here's a delicious quote from The Adjuster by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Notice the little things. The things that make the story moment swallow you whole.

           "At five o'clock the somber egg-shaped room at the Ritz ripens to subtle melody—the light clat-clat of one lump, two lumps, into the cup, and the ding of the shining teapots and cream-pots as they kiss elegantly in transit upon a silver tray."


Mmmm. And how about this from Iris Murdoch.
  
          "People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy."


Simple things that make a story zing, a heart feel, a mind wonder.


The whole experience of living life is that way too. The little things in our lives offer the same benefits as the little things in a story. Live it. Write it. Embrace the power of small.


Hey, here's another blue car—My son made this pancake for his brother one morning. A small thing in the whole scheme of life. Powerful in its message and it's capability to induce happiness. 


And I've got to tell you—KATIE DODGE, WONDERFUL KATIE DODGE posted about a little thing that, while it was hilarious, was also powerful in the message she gave her kids. All from a seemingly simple thing. Read her great story - just click this link for katieonfiction.blogspot.com

So go out and find the little things in life and infuse them in your heart and in your stories. Tell me about your favorites—in life and in writing.

AH, THE POSSIBILITIES!

18 comments:

Unknown said...

This was such a fun and cute blog post! Thank you for starting by day off refreshing and happily!!!!

Love the bug! SO CUTE!

Anonymous said...

Lovely post Brenda, I completely agree! I read this book by Alain de Botton "How Proust can change your life". I haven't managed to read more than a few pages of Proust himself but de Botton's book is all about appreciating the small things in life.

Maybe I should write something about how Alain de Botton can change your life.

Tara Tyler said...

BLUE ONE!
love the pancake car and the love that oozes out of this post =)

Kimberly Krey said...

Loved the pic, loved the message! And you're right; Katie's link is worth checking out!

Jessie Humphries said...

Did that pancake taste alright? Hah. Great post. Its great to see such a bubbly happy post this morning.

Katie Dodge said...

You are one of those things in life that infuses happiness into mine! Thanks for the shout out. You are wonderful!!!

Toyin O. said...

What a great post, I love that car.

Susan Kane said...

Spontaneous explosive joy--that is what this post is!

Abby Fowers said...

You sound as wonderful as everyone says you are! And I've heard lots of good things so that is great. Hope I get to meet you in person one day. I love this post and all the possibilities. Isn't it wonderful what a difference the little things make.

Small Town Shelly Brown said...

Brenda, I just LOVE you!
Those quotes were so amazing.
And who doesn't think that Katie Dodge is wonderful? If you're referring to the post that I think you are, it is so funny. I laughed out loud so many times that my husband came over to see what was so funny.

Katie Dodge said...

Hey wonderful you! I gave you an award on my blog. Check it out if you'd like and do with it what you will! And thanks again!

Chantele Sedgwick said...

Brenda, you always make me smile. Thanks for this cute post! :D

Danica said...

I love this post! It's so poetic and inspiring. Noticing the little things makes life so much more exciting and interesting, I need to to pay more attention!

Missi Morris said...

Hi Brenda,
I have been reading about you through Shelly. Love your post about enjoying the little things. I gave you an award on my blog. Check it out.

David P. King said...

Nice! I have one of those bugs!

No one's written anything on it for a long time, not that I'm complaining. Love the blog! :)

Brenda Sills said...

You guys are mahvelous, simply mahvelous!

JEN - Thanks! I love happy!

DAMIAN - Hey, thanks for the tip off about de Botton's book - it sounds fantastic! And yeah, get
writing about it!

TARA - Oozing love - awesome!

KIMBERLY - Thank ya very much for loving stuff.

JESSIE - Yeah, the pancake was delish! He made some for all of us. He used food coloring in a separate bowl of batter, then piped it on top of the pancake after it had already cooked partially - enough to flip.

KATIE - What a nice thing to say that I infuse happiness in your life! Wow - you do that for me! YOU'RE the wonderful one! And thanks for the blog award!

TOYIN - Thanks for your wonderful niceness!

SUSAN - I love how you described my post!

ABBY - Oh my! What wonderful things you said! How kind! Believe me - I am far from wonderful, far, far, far. I'm sure we'll meet one of these days- I'm just really, really sure, and that'll be super great because I've heard wonderful things about YOU!

SHELLY - Wahoo! Thanks for liking my quotes - that's spectacular! And Shelly, I just love you too!

CHANTELE - Hoorah for smiling! Thanks for your complimentary compliment.

DANICA - Hey yeah, paying more attention is a super idea! I'm going to make a goal to notice 17 little things each day. Then if I get done early, I'll notice more!

MISSI - Thanks for loving my post and for the award!
I'll do a post with it soon. You're so amazingly wonderful to give me that award when you just met me!

DAVID - Hey thanks! I love bugs - the car variety that is. That's awesome you have one. I always wanted to zip around in one!

Sihirli Yazılar said...

As you say, Brenda, the message writer has managed to express his love in a simple way. It's little things which bring life to a story whereas little things are real sources of happiness in our daily lives.
To be able to see the lusciousness at little things or not... That's the only problem:)

Brenda Sills said...

SIHIRLI - You are so right - being able to SEE is the problem indeed. We get so busy and become immune to the soul-satisfying little things all around us. We'd have so much more happiness if we just stopped to listen, look, and feel. Thanks!