The Little Things

I have mentioned before, namely on the post about the meaning of life ("On Life," three posts ago), how some objects become charged with meaning for us. Often, these objects are gifts from someone we care about. Well, today I received a pair of gifts. One was a movie that Sparky thought I might particularly like. He told me that someone had leant it to him, and then bought a new copy anyway. But it's something we can watch together. I love it, and much appreciate the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

The other gift, however, is something I downright cherish now. It is a small thing, and he made no secret of it's price, which was nothing outrageous. But, because it was from Sparky, and from a place very special to him, it meant a lot to him. But he knew I could use it (and he was very right in that regard), and because it was special, he wanted me to have it. I treasure the gift, beyond the movie, and beyond most things. Because it's special and has much meaning to me.

This reinforces that aspect of my meaning of life post, in the meaning of human connections, and... other parts of that post.

However, this also lends more credence to one of my other theories about how the little things matter far more than the big things in any kind of relationship. Take this gift. It's from someone I care about quite a lot. It is not worth much, in the financial sense. I couldn't pawn it for anything worth noting (I assume). It's from somewhere that, while I would love to go, has no special meaning to me by myself. But it does to him, which means that it does to me as well, now. Because it was special to him, it means a lot to me. Such a simple gift, or such a thing as simply helping do the dishes after dinner, or any of these little meaningless things... they all add up, surprisingly quickly. You can know someone that does something big and meaningful every now and then... but if they don't take time for the little things, don't do something to show you "hey, I was thinking about you" or simply lend a hand when you could use it on something mundane... without any of that, you can't be very close. Someone like that could be a somewhat distant friend who's still important, but not an every day thing. I think that we as a people simply need a relatively frequent reminder of the caring connection with someone, be it a close friend, a lover, a partner, or what have you. If you choose to interact with someone in a social way on a regular basis, these small symbols take on so much more importance than the once or twice a year required present or comment. While birthdays are supposed to be fun or great or whatever, if I'm going to be with someone, I would rather them not do anything for it on accident and have him give me a small personal gift from time to time, or help out with chores on a regular basis than I would have someone who might do something very sweet for a birthday but never help out, never offer me something simple and small that he thought I might like or remind me of him.

Well, I've started rambling again. And it's getting late, and I'm oddly dizzy, which happens when i focus in on my typing too much and talk directly from the heart. Not sure what that's about or why I'm mentioning it... but oh well. It's out here now (or will be in a few minutes when I hit "Publish Post"), and I don't feel like taking it back. The point was, it's the little things in life and in relationships that matter. Don't forget that, especially if any married guys read this!

And Sparky... Thanks :)