So today, while editing the Living Hope magazine (for the umpteenth time!), I was grooving out to some Classical music online. It helps to both calm my mind as well as block out external noise (aka more interesting things than editing). Normally my Ipod’s my hero for the day in that respect, but forgetting to charge it puts a dent in the fun of using it. Negative side to radio: the guy keeps coming on and talking, thus interrupting my thought process. Positive side to radio: I hear songs I haven’t heard before, or simply haven’t heard in a very long time.

After being interrupted once more by the host’s “Happy Cinco de Mayo” comments, I was glad to hear the return of the melodic sounds of a single piano. After hearing the first few simple but emotional notes, I recognized the song as “Für Elise.” My first thought was “meh, this song is cliché” but then it hit me, the reason a song becomes memorable and often overplayed is because it’s beautiful. No one overplays an uninspired song for 200 years. So I sat back (not very productive, I know) and simply soaked in the ‘crescendos’ and ‘diminuendos’ for a few minutes. I’m not too proud to admit that it nearly brought me to tears.

I tend to spend my time, as I’m sure most of us do, doing whatever is begging for my attention. Whether it’s work projects, a hungry stomach, a book that needs to be read, an email that needs to be sent or simply a friend calling to have fun, I spent my days crossing things off of imaginary lists. But let’s agree, life is often made up of small moments you don’t go looking for.

Things that have made me happy so far this morning: a post-it note left on my computer screen, an older pastor jokingly sticking his tongue out at me, killing a mosquito, a spontaneous Portuguese grammar lesson from a patient friend, the realization that I haven’t bitten my nails in over a week, Dan Quayle quotes, eating a PB&J for breakfast, a Brazilian typing “omg” in a chat conversation, walking past the SAD’s “Enditnow” banner and recognizing people’s signatures, hearing Rita’s laughter from down the hall, allowing a incomplete clause to pass as a sentence because I simply love how it sounds, translating a song and realizing I accidentally made it rhyme, having a Mexican friend on Cinco de Mayo, learning that “umpteenth” is an actual word in the dictionary, and my phone ringing (it’s rare, I admit).

So today, I plan on taking a few minutes this evening to do something I don’t need to do at all. It’s about time.  I hope you are able to as well!