The little things are overrated

Last autumn I saw a young woman strolling along a shady path dotted with colorful leaves. She paused for a moment as if something on the sidewalk caught her eye. She bent down and picked up a crispy red leaf, one of nature’s own individual pieces of artwork. She gazed into the intricate patterns of the leaf’s veins, appreciating the natural beauty. She then placed the leaf in her bag and brought it with her so she could admire it later, perhaps press it in between the pages of a book or use it in arts and crafts.\nAfter I witnessed this scene of someone truly appreciating the little things in life, I had a sudden epiphany. The little things are such a waste of time. There are thousands, perhaps millions of leaves that coat the ground in the fall. How late to every appointment would we be if we stopped to appreciate Mother Nature’s handwork every time we saw it?\nAnd saving leaves in the pages of a book? What could possibly be the outcome of that activity? You find the most beautiful leaf in the world, stick it in your giant hardcover coffee-table book about penguins and then forget about it. When your grandchildren are going through your things after you’ve died and they briefly flip through the pages, they’ll think, “Grandma/Grandpa really liked penguins,” and “She/He must’ve had a lot of extra time to kill.”\n“Take time to appreciate the little things” is just one of those phrases people like to say, but can’t possibly mean. Little Things, I’m calling you out. You’re not so great and I don’t really feel like appreciating you.\nFirst, what constitutes a “little thing”? Is it a penny in the parking lot? The smell of clean laundry? My paycheck? I guess I appreciate that.\nA “little thing” could be anything. So you either have to appreciate everything, which is time consuming enough, or take extra time to scrutinize between little thing and ordinary sized thing.\nSecond, to what degree of appreciation should we grant to these little things? Do I need to build a shrine to ladybugs? Should I start a new religion based on odd-shaped clouds? Should I capture the laughter of children in a jar and sell it on eBay? Appreciation is just so vague.\nFinally, can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone appreciated the little things? Obviously, nothing would get done. At work, millions of people would listen carefully to the soothing clickity-clack sound of their keyboards. They would press warm faxes up against their faces. They would stare into their cups of coffee, mesmerized by the swirls of half-and-half, hypnotized by that round, paper cup feeling in their hands. Society would come to a halt while all its members were busy appreciating, crawling around inspecting the mathematical patterns in the waves of the carpeting.\nNext time you see roses, just keep right on walking.