Thursday, April 14, 2011

L is for Little Things

Jesse Eisenberg had a profound statement in the epic film "Zombieland" when his character Columbus, jotted down rule number 32; Enjoy the little things. Those little things are what keep us going day in and day out. From one peak to the next peak, and all of the garbage in between.

Little things can be there to remind us of someone when they're not around. When they have peacefully departed from the same path that we're headed down, or when they've made an ugly exit off of the last freeway turnoff. Everybody has little things in their lives. Things that bring a chuckle to your face, or a tear to your eye. Those little things are everywhere. And one by one they're either stockpiled up into frozen storage subconscious, or deleted from your sentimental memory.

People don't just vanish from our lives. They stay kicking around until we can't get rid of them. They stay around every time I bite into a piece of sushi. They're around every time that I watch an episode of Dexter. They're around every time that I go to send a text message and my emoticon button accidentally gets pushed. They are still around.

They're around when I open the console in my car and there are 4 small peanut butter cups still lodged at the bottom. They're around every time that I lie to someone. They're around every time that I open up my freezer and a half-gallon of Blue Bell Rocky Road Ice Cream falls out on to the floor. They're around every time I even catch wind of anything Texas related. They will be around in the fall when the 12th man starts cheering.

Every time that I look at my broken middle finger. Every time that I hear the abbreviation for the Boy Scouts of America. Every time that I hear the word Boston. Every time that I sit down to play 'The Luckiest' on my piano, which I have been practicing for years now. Every time that I see a red Jeep Wrangler pull out of my parking lot. They are around.

There are other little things as well. Whenever I see a Greyhound Bus heading South on I-15 they are around. Whenever I drive through Cedar City, or Provo, or Millville, or Roy, they are around. Whenever I look at the gold CTR ring on my keychain, they are around.

We live in a digital world with 1's and 0's encrypting our relationships via the great device that Al Gore invented. It's a blessing and a curse for us to depend upon social interaction sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and e-mail for connections with other people. But Facebook doesn't have those little things. It doesn't have the sweet taste of a ham and cheese sandwich from Zupa's. It doesn't have the volume of a cop yelling at me for flashing my lights on a ghosts grave in Ogden. It doesn't have the smell of the air on a summer night at 3 in the morning laying on the basketball courts of the dorms.

At the end of another day, I stare at a blinking cursor and wonder if there's anyone out there who wants to make more little things with me. Who wants to listen to my lies. Who wants to read made up newspapers. Who wants to wear string bracelets. Who knows? To recount Columbus, Enjoy The Little Things. Those little things are what will keep us from losing our minds.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Brock,

    It sounds as though your short term memory loss, is not lost at all.

    Feels like a blessing, and you must be thinking, "yeah right."

    I have experience such similar things... except all my inside jokes and great memories lead to a grave.

    and I wonder, why in the world does my mind choose to surface these thoughts... But then I realize, its actually my choice to give heed to this memories and experiences.... For me, there are there as bench marks..... and they give me something to gage, all the sudden, the little things aren't little things, because they lead me to remember the emotions too.

    The more I think about, there are no little things....


    good post.

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  2. Jenny, you are right. These little things are no little things at all. They are great things. Things that we cherish, and adore, and miss, and hate, and any other feeling that you want to put in this slot. Thanks for reading. I'll try and keep things entertaining.

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