Ordinary Moments

The quote below, from The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown, brought to mind my mother's old, out-of-focus photographs -- snapshots captured spur-of-the-moment, of ordinary, everyday times in our lives.

I think I learned the most about the value of ordinary from interviewing men and women who have experienced tremendous loss such as the loss of a child, violence, genocide, and trauma.  The memories that they held most sacred were the ordinary, everyday moments.  It was clear that their most precious memories were forged from a collection of ordinary moments, and their hope for others is that they would stop long enough to be grateful for those moments and the joy they bring.  Author and spiritual leader Marianne Williamson says, ‘Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.’

Life offers highs, lows, and everything in between.  It's usually easy to remember the highs.  In fact, we often take photos of the highs and share them with the world.  The lows we suffer and cry through, sometimes alone.  But the in-between moments, the ones that repeat every day, often go unnoticed -- just another day.  But aren't they the ones that develop our natures and characters and forge relationships with family members and friends?  Aren't those ordinary moments that ones that wrap us in the security of family, love, and home?  They help us remember who we are when we have those low times.

Cherish those ordinary moments, too.

--Nancy.
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