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All the little things

Half past midnigt and I'm having trouble falling asleep so I decided to update this site.

A couple of days ago, a friend asked me if I was interested in contributing to her online magazine's next round of articles themed All the little things, which is the title of this post. I said yes but I haven't been given any further information so I don't know what exactly is going on. In any case, I would love to write for an online magazine. I'm interested in topics like fashion, lifestyle, animal welfare, family, entertainment; basically everything that falls under soft news.

Anyway! A lot comes to mind when we talk about the little things in life. We probably won't be able to instantly recall one now but sometimes when we witness/experience it, it often gives us a warm, fuzzy feeling inside (and temporarily restores my faith in humanity).

Really, the little things in life could be as simple as watching someone on the train give up his/her seat or having the bus driver greet you as you board the bus or being complimented by a random person while you make your way around your day. These are the little things that matter even though we rarely remember them long enough to realize.

Being the sentimental person I am, I often take pleasure in having dinner with my family. Of course, it's no longer a daily affair because every one works according to tier own schedules and I have school to deal with but I'm always happy when the dining table is completely full. True enough, not every dinner starts and ends on a good note. We squabble and argue and sometimes we leave the table angry but it's probably the only time of the day I get to take a good look at my family. 

We spend a lot of time away from each other because we are always preoccupied with other things - my brother is always busy with his computer games, my mom with her Korean dramas  and my sister with her phone. So much that despite living under the same roof, we hardly see each other. Which is why dinner time is really precious to me.

Something else that made me smile was meeting a bus driver who brightly greeted all his boarding passengers.

It's really rare for that to happen in Singapore, a city we strive so hard to be gracious citizens. When I was in Cardiff, I noticed this happened every time I boarded the bus to town. And as people alighted, they would thank the bus driver. I would too, of course, and I wasn't afraid to do so. I greeted him as I boarded and thanked him as I alighted; it was normal there. Not the case here, though.

I was greeted by this male bus driver when I boarded the bus (811) on my way home from Northpoint. I took his bus twice and both times he smiled and said good afternoon. I was elated.

Things like that rarely happen in Singapore. When it did, I was really happy.

Not forgetting the residence cat I usually see as I take the stairs down. I am probably easily contented so things as meaningless/irrelevant as seeing a stray cat makes me ultra happy. In fact, seeing people walk their dogs and cats laze on the streets make me happy. (I'm an animal person, admittedly.)

Fats, my residence cat, is being looked after by my neighbour on the second floor. It is well-fed and house on a daily basis (unless the owners are out) but it is well-known among the people living in my block. It's a joy pill, one you don't get to enjoy every day.

I see Fats less frequent recently. But every time I do, it just makes me overwhelming happy! It doesn't pur or rub its head against me. In fact, it doesn't even bother looking at me half the time. But I love it.

I love the way it is there, taking up space on one ledge of the staircase. I love the way it lazily looks up at me and "rolls its eyes" at me. I love the way it doesn't care about the world going by and just lives it's life peacefully. It is just so calming looking at Fats; makes me wonder if I will ever learn to live like him.

You see, there is so much in life we often miss because we're too busy with something else. I've been studying all my life and I tell myself my grades today won't matter 10 years later so I shouldn't be so hard on myself. We only learn to truly enjoy life when we embrace ourselves for who we are. 

My only advice, if that's the right way to put it, is to chill and just slow down. Time will keep ticking and we will always have deadlines to meet but remember the only deadline we can't avoid is the day we expire.

Come up with a bucket list and make time for it so that when the time comes, you know you've done all that you want to.

With that! I should be able to fall asleep soon. ^^

Goodnight everyone! 
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