All the Little Things

Image courtesy of Broadsword Solutions Corporation

People are always saying that we need to step back for a second and take a look at the "big picture." I agree with that. I do think that the way we understand a problem or question is to first take a look at everything before we zero in on the little details. But, isn't it the little things that make us remember? With such a huge world around us, there need to be little things unique to each living, and non-living, thing. These points of uniqueness are all the little things that make things special to us.

Just think about it, you're walking home from a friends house for the first time, and you need to remember where to turn off to get to her/his neighborhood. Personally, I won't remember the street name, so what I look for instead is some sort of cool or unique landmark. I will look for a huge oak tree, or a rose bush, just something unique to that, and only that, place. Street signs all look the same to me. Little rectangles on poles with writing. But if you can find something that stands out in the landscape, that is the thing that will stick in my mind.

You can also use these little things to remember people. "Greg's the one with the little curly mustache right....Cynthia, you know, the redhead....Oh yeah, Dylan is the one who has a limp....." The small features and attributes make you remember. You can either try to remember every single detail of a person's entire face, or look at a couple little things that are specific to just them. Some examples are a mole, a really high or low pitched voice, a way of walking, anything really. Even though they are all just tiny little things compared to the "big picture," they are the things that seem to help us remember.

No matter what they are, the big fern by your friends house, the mole on someone's upper left cheek, or even the way your crushes smile is just a little bit crooked, they all have one thing in common. They are all the little things that cause us to remember.