8th of March

“It is not the pearls that make the necklace, but the thread.”

- Gustave Flaubert

Leave it to Monsieur Flaubert to see something in plain view and present it in a way completely opposite to the usual perspective... or opposite to not thinking about it at all. When I first read this quote, it was very much like my first time seeing that drawing where from one particular focus you see the old witch-like lady, and if you shift your perspective, you see the beautiful young woman. Of course it is the thread ! Cannot believe I didn't see that.... 

Now, to be sure, thread on its own is just thread, not a necklace. You need a bit of both. But if I pull back to view my family, or my life, with this quote in mind, it reminds me to view the smaller, less obvious things, with equal, or even greater, importance. Great to have the big days, full of events, and important moments. But most of our days are not like that, most of them are regular days. These are the days that make a life. What keeps that life from being mere existence are the pearls, so to speak, but they are held together by the day in, day out habits and occurences. 

Big bunch of pearls is just that without some kind of throughline, something to hold one thing next to another. While the 'pearls' are excellent and wholly inspiring – first tooth, first word, big splash in the school play, a fantastic anniversary dinner, a ringing success on something you have worked on a long time – today, I toast consistency, the throughline, the everyday. I toast what makes it all hang together, what makes it meaningful. 

the Keeper (word to think about/keep with me for a bit): 

"Perspective” - n. 1.) the art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point. 2.) the relation of two figures in the same plane. 3.) a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

I hope to remember to realize the worth of the smaller details, and see that what makes things meaningful is often not the most obvious thing. My perspective makes a world of difference in how I see what is before me.