Not long ago I wrote about a Gail Godwin quote I love:
“The more you respect and focus on the singular and the strange, the more you become aware of the universal and infinite.”
There’s so much in this that makes sense to me. Sometimes I’m struck by a tiny detail about someone that seems to speak volumes about who they are. For example: more times than I can count, I fill up other peoples’ Britas. I see them almost-empty in their fridges, and I fill them up. Why? I don’t know. But it says a lot about who I am, I think.
Also: I inevitably, always have the coffee for the next morning all set and pre-programmed by 6pm the night before. In a related, kitchen-centric detail, I’m an avid clean-up-as-I-go cook. When I served Thanksgiving dinner to my family last year, every single dish was washed and put away before we sat down. I cannot comprehend why others don’t do this.
Also: I still make old-fashioned photo albums, every few months printing out a bunch of pictures and pasting them into the pages with the peel-back clear covers.
What does this combination of small things say about me? I’m neurotic, thoughtful, and sentimental? Those would all true.
What are some of the tiny but wildly telling details about you?
I love this quote and the way in which you’ve applied it.
Here are two telling things about me: Despite the plethora of info available on the Internet, I still begin my plan for every trip (Thing 1: a plan for every trip) by checking out every book on the place I can find (Thing 2: books).
What do these Things say? That I’m an old-school girl who likes a plan. Absolutely true.
xo
I can’t leave the grocery store without something that I have never bought before. I’m the family genealogist, I’ve got boxes of old photos and papers. I find it totally impossible to follow a recipe as written. Which is why I don’t bake! So I’d say my eyes are open to new, I’m rooted in family history (not geographically rooted at all), and I like to improve and improvise processes as I go. All true!
I think details also tell us about our own childhood. For instance, when I am at home I like to keep TV, radio, or music … etc at the lowest volume as possible. I feel that it has to do with my childhood. Our household was so loud, now I can’t take it anymore :).
I fling everything about when I’m cooking. . . and it always delicious! And a mess! And Almost everytime, I think, I should probably clean as I go. . .
I am also the Brita filler in my family, and have been known to fill others, uninvited. My system is to pour it from Brita to glass pitcher and leave on table as I only like drinking room temperature water. Cold water and iced water makes me bonkers! I kind of have a hate on ice in general. Unless it’s in a mojito.
I’m always, always, five minutes ahead of schedule for meetings, baseball games, whatever. Can’t even comprehend leaving someone waiting.
Why don’t those of us with this predilection ever have meetings with each other?