Life is Lived in the Details

I've recently found myself lost in the thought of the macro and micro views of life.  The macro view is how we typically measure our lives: in days, weeks, months, years, decades and even a lifetime.  The macro point of view is where life is spent.  We use this reference to more easily categorize events.

The micro view, on the other hand, is what happens around us in those moments.  It's in these moments that I believe life is really lived, not just spent.  It's in the details.  Life is lived in the details.

"Don't count the things you do; do the things that count." ~ Zig Ziglar

When you meet someone who lives with a micro point of view, paying attention the micro moments, it's obvious because it manifests itself in their enthusiasm for what others see as the ordinary.  They tend to laugh louder, smile bigger, hug harder and love more passionately.  They live their lives with a unique appreciation.  I've come to admire this perspective and I find myself striving to live this way.  I want to pause for moments throughout the day and just absorb it all.  The sound of my daughter's voice, the way my son smiles, the touch of my girlfriend's hand on my arm.  Every sense is a portal to micro moments of life if we just take a moment to pay attention.

"If there's one thing I learned, it's that nobody is here forever. You have to live for the moment, each and every day...the here, the now." ~ Simone Elkeles

The point here is that I believe we forget about the micro.  We get caught up in life and begin to take it all for granted.  All the beautiful stimuli of the world pass by us and we don't stop to notice.  As a result we look back with a macro perspective and recall blocks of time, rather than specific moments.  Think about the times you've recalled specific moments: Do you remember how your mom laughed so hard that time she couldn't stop? That is a micro moment.

Now imagine if you took the time to celebrate those micro moments every day.  What if you stopped while walking to work one day and noticed the formation of birds flying overhead in nomadic purposeful unison?  What if you closed your eyes at the park one day and caught the sound of that family laughing hysterically?  How amazing would your days become?

"She worked her toes into the sand, feeling the tiny delicious pain of the friction of tiny chips of silicon against the tender flesh between her toes. That's life. It hurts, it's dirty, and it feels very, very good." ~ Orson Scott Card

The really amazing part about this concept is that it is never too late to begin.  If you possess any of your five senses then you're capable of living in the micro.  Why would you delay any longer?  Life is lived in the details...all you have to do is pay attention.