“Whatsup??” chimes my chirpy friend from across 1000s of miles from sunny California. At other times it is “What’s going on there?” or “How was your week?”. Well, truth be told I have a ‘deer in the headlights’ moment when I get asked this. For most, this seems like a simple and innocent-looking question and the common answers vary from “Doing great” to a full minute by minute logarithmic account from Monday through Sunday! I hope you never have to listen to the latter however dear might be the person you are speaking with!
Well for me, it starts with trying to squeeze my overworked brain (Thanks WFH!) even harder to think of something that will directly interest whoever may be on the other side of the phone (meeting in-person being few and far in these ‘unprecedented’ pandemic times!). And even though overthinking is my strongest suite by far, most often this battle with the mind is lost, and I manage the boring ‘Going on’ response that I am ashamed of almost immediately as soon as I say it!
Netflix and Amazon Prime are the ‘safe’ topics that are resorted to or should I say jumped into! Well, after a good 30 mins of dissecting every show that graced us over the weekend, much more than their creators ever imagined we are back again to the dreaded ‘What else’! Lol, there we go again!
Is it the pandemic that has made this question so hard to answer !! You must have guessed it, my strongest suit isn’t taking responsibility either! But guess what, that’s when a subtle breakthrough happens! And my mind offers me glimpses of a few moments that made my week. The really really small stuff that is. Not the stories about grand parties, vacations, sumptuous Sunday buffets, fitness runs, night outs etc. But the little stuff. Like how the sunbeams have started filling the bedroom more these days, a random joke shared with a friend and what that reminded me of, a poem or a random quote read somewhere, birds chirping for the first time since winter, random dreams, a relaxing bath in a long while, rediscovering a favourite song after ages, making the perfect cuppa and you get the drift!
The small things are often overshadowed by the big stuff like a deadline at work, household chores, business or family commitments etc. But they provide the greatest nourishment to the soul! Be mindful of them, treasure them and talk about them much more than the big stuff! You most definitely will feel at peace with yourself and less pressurised to compare what you are doing with what others are doing! Your ocean of happiness is just yours to keep and cherish! After all. “The little things are infinitely the most important.” — Arthur Conan Doyle
