Small Moments

From a fern to a throne — a journey of tiny joys.

On Facebook, my friend Susan posted this and it stopped me mid-scroll. It was both beautiful and quietly profound:

She then sent a private message with this photo:

She followed it up saying…

My tiny joy. This spontaneously grew in between my ferns. Purple of all things.

She loves gardening. She loves the colour purple. And she loves tiny joy. And here it was — looking up at her between the ferns. It was hers now.

And she saw it. That’s the remarkable part. How many of us would have missed it? Not realizing that this is one of those tiny joys that slip into our spirit so comfortably. Like it belongs.

And then by some miracle I heard what François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Finance, said when he met King Charles after the Throne Speech in Ottawa.

“…in life you have these small moments… this was one of them.”

I was stunned. This seemed like a message to me personally. First Susan’s post and then Champagne’s comment on small moments. While it was a totally different small moment than Susan’s, the sentiment landed the same: life is full of small moments - we just have to pay attention.

I began to think that maybe I haven’t been looking for small moments enough. Although there is a part of me that thinks small moments find you. But what if I’m wrong? What if we need to keep our eyes — and our hearts — open?

Then I asked myself - can a collection of small moments make a life?

Tiny joys?

From purple ferns to royal ceremonies — same theme, different small moments.

I was thinking I’d like to share some of my tiny joys. There has to be many — I can’t have lived this long and have none!

So, I quickly scanned both my memory and my heart banks to come up with a couple of stories. I found two. Well, I actually found like a bazillion but I’ll settle for two.

The second one I haven’t thought of in years but it seems so apropos that I wanted to share it with you.

The first one happened a couple of years ago. Our 6-year-old granddaughter called me by my given name — Debra — instead of GrandmaDeb. She would do it many times after that.
Strange.
Cute.
Hysterical.
Small moments of joy.

And this next one… well, it lives in a very special place in my memory — and my heart.

It was 1983 and I was living in Amsterdam as an au pair. I got lucky — the parents were kind and warm, the kids were adorable, and it was one of the best years of my life.

One weekend, my Dutch boyfriend at the time, Derrick, and I went for a drive through the countryside. He spotted a Legion and thought it would be fun to pop in and have a beer with the patrons.

Are you crazy??

I was only in my 20s and wasn’t exactly drawn to a room full of old men drinking beer.

But he said it would be an adventure.

It was definitely that and then some.

How could I have known that this would be one of those small moments in time?

What do you imagine the veterans did when they found out I was Canadian?

They stood up. Raised their glasses. And thanked me.

As a stand-in for all Canadians — for helping liberate the Netherlands during the war.

It was a beautiful, humbling moment.

One that has taken up residence in my being.

So maybe Susan’s right. Maybe joy really does live in the small moments — tiny joy — like finding a splash of purple in your ferns…
…or shaking hands with the King…
…or loving your granddaughter’s sassiness…
…or being thanked for your country’s service.

They’re our own small moments.

That’s what our lives are like, aren’t they?

A collection of small moments. A stranger giving you a smile. Smelling the lilacs when they’re in season. Watching the sun rise. Noticing your indoor plants are thriving and quite possibly speaking to you.

They aren’t big moments.

But they are: Organic. Spontaneous. Unexpected.

Unlike the big moments which are unmistakably big.

But it’s about finding the joy in the little things. That’s the magic.

You can’t manufacture them. They are there — just stop and observe.

Do you think that gratitude is at the bottom of all this? If I feel grateful will I see these tiny joys? Or is it the other way around — I see these tiny joys and am therefore grateful. Hmmm….makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Or is it just me?

What are your small moments? Tiny pieces of joy?