This is not a post about The Sound of Music. Sorry to disappoint if that's where you hoped this was going. Allow me to link one quote with another, though, and I promise all will make sense by the end of this post. Ok. Kurt Vonnegut wrote something like “I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'”
That profound little nugget enjoyed a few years on my Facebook page, and then I decided that I was not the sort of person who quotes Kurt Vonnegut in public forums (whatever that means) and took it down, but the message has always resonated with me. It's good to be conscious of the small things that make us happy, and to be grateful for their presence. Simple pleasures, right?
I find that my mood can be instantly improved by the presence of certain things, especially when those things manifest in the form of an SVU marathon or chocolate milk. Small digression, my coworker once bought me a carton of chocolate milk just because she knows how much I like it, just came by and plopped it on my desk, and I swear that is damn near the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. You may be thinking that people must not do nice things for me very often, but honestly I just really love chocolate milk and kind gestures. Don't you? Anyway.
I know that I usually write about food, but today I just want to make a list of the things I'm feeling especially fond of or grateful for lately. And much of it gravitates towards the edible, so I haven't departed altogether from my usual content. Ironically, I'm not typically fond of list making, since lists are usually just full of the shit I need to do, buy or accomplish and that makes me want to take a nap. But there's something about a list of favorite things that reminds you why life is good. And I happen to think everyone should be reminded of that once in a while. Here's my list. What's on yours?
frequenting a place often enough to be considered a regular
when vacation is close enough to really start getting excited
when my birthday overlaps with that vacation
ordering exactly the right thing at a restaurant
getting a package in the mail
reading the Sunday Times…on Sunday
the sound of peeling a clementine apart
the smell of garlic sizzling in olive oil
championing a cause you are passionate about
spring showing up for good
buying perfectly ripe avocados
unexpected opportunity
elegant handwriting
starting a brand new book
feeling confident in your choices
making dinner reservations somewhere really snazzy
nine hours of sleep or more
and finally, the rare mornings when I get a seat on the metro
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