This week I did a series of picture posts on my Facebook page. I’d read somewhere that pictures were more popular than links or straight text on Facebook and based on my small ‘experiment’ it does appear to be true. Pictures do seem to get more attention on my page.
For me, that was good because I spend a lot of time with text, words, concepts and sometimes, a picture really does speak better than any word you can come up with. Or maybe pictures coupled with the right word is the real winning combination.
The picture post that got the most attention is the one I used above.
So, why would that message resonate more?
Getting lost in the big stuff
I think that people get lost in the big stuff. I know I do. Chasing the dream of being a best-selling author, is a good example of the big stuff I want to celebrate. I pray I will be able to celebrate. I fear I won’t ever celebrate. And I doubt there is any author who doesn’t feel that way.
We all have dreams that we chase. Some more realistic than others but important to us, nonetheless. Despite any proximity to reality.
But the problem with getting lost in the big stuff is that we miss all the wonderful little things that happen to us, for us, and around us. The world is a big, beautiful mystical place and there are probably hundreds of moments a day we could celebrate if we chose to.
So, here is the small stuff I’m celebrating this week:
♥ Puppy Lily absconded big dog Emma’s bear (stuffed toy) and guards it with all the ferocity of a bear. Did I mention the bear is bigger than she is?
♥ Dinner with my friend Andy. It was just us barbecuing a couple burgers in my backyard and then later going to Starbucks for coffee. Then hours of talk about anything and everything.
♥ Phone call with Jenny. My best friend who lives in Texas and whom I miss terribly. Quote from her son, “I touche a Guinea pig and now I’m sick.” You just can’t make that kind of stuff up, right?
♥ I finally figured out scene 86 in my book.
♥ The grocery store had daffodils on sale – $1.99 for 10 stems, I got 20. Today they opened. What a beautiful sunny scent!
♠ I discovered tiny little tomatoes on my tomato plants. Six of them. Big news!
♥ I had heavy cream for my coffee this morning. Heaven.
♥ A favorite client contacted me out of the blue yesterday.
♥ Spring is finally here.
Maybe it’s just gratitude
Maybe all I’m really talking about is feeling gratitude in my life. And if I am, that’s fine with me. I want to feel grateful for everything in my life – even the small stuff. Even the bad stuff. Because it’s all part of this mysterious game we call life and you can’t appreciate the good without the bad. The highs without the lows. The exciting without the boring. Right?
How about you, dear reader? What is the small stuff you’re celebrating this week? Did you finally master that cookie recipe? See a beautiful baby? Hug a puppy? See an old friend? Witness an incredible sunrise? Feel free to share any or all of it.
Have a great weekend.
Annie
Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer 
You’re taking time to smell the roses. That’s always a good thing. Too many people miss the beauty and joy that’s right under their noses.
As for the popularity of that picture … years — nay, decades — ago, in my college advertising/marketing classes I was taught that the foolproof go-tos for gaining attention/favor were children, animals, and beautiful women. Still seems true today.
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Hey Girl!
Yes, definitely smelling roses or maybe daffodils. I agree, too many miss what’s right in front of them.
Interesting about the marketing info.
A
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Great post Annie! I think it’s so important to be grateful for the small stuff. I consciously try to be grateful each and every day and it’s changed my life. When I wake up in the morning, I am grateful to be alive and surrender myself to whatever the day brings. I am grateful to sink into a hot bath, and to have delicious and nutritious food to eat. I am grateful for amazing friends and family and for their love and support. I am grateful for the beauty of the sky – I was just sitting staring out my window yesterday because the sky had so many beautiful shades of pinks and blues when my brother called. He asked what I was doing and he just laughed when I told him “looking out the window.” I am grateful for nature and the connection I feel to it. I am grateful for all the things I have learned this week, and grateful to be a writer who really delves into life in all of it’s beauty and wonderment.
And that’s just some of the things I’ve been grateful for this past week. Thanks for this post and hopefully it will reach a lot of folks! Sometimes we get lost in our daily lives and all the minutia, but being grateful pulls us back into the present and it is a beautiful thing.
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Hi Evangeline,
You are so right. And you obviously practice what you preach. It’s too bad, you can’t bottle all that gratitude and pass it out to others.
We do get lost so easily in all the must-do’s we have in our lives. All the things that we let distract us and pulls us away from life. Spending an hour on Facebook can be depressing. But spending an hour hiking in the mountains can be exhilarating. heck, just moving around, letting the sun shine on you or smelling a flower can have more positive effects on you than any digital experience. But I fear, we often don’t make those connections.
Have a lovely day.
Annie
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It is too much , to spend hour upon hour on Facebook. I can attest to that. Somewhere in those hours it seems God is leading me to one message that was full of wisdom I was seeking. As I finish reading or peering at it then I am logged off. He leads me through the darkness to a brilliant light were He is.
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Yes, Facebook can be a total time suck. It sounds like though, that you have a handle on it.
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