The things that brought me the most comfort now were too small to list. Raspberries in cream. Sparrows with cocked heads. Shadows of bare limbs making for sidewalk filigrees. Roses past their prime with their petals loose about them. The shouts of children at play in the neighborhood, Ginger Rogers on the black-and-white screen.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the simple joys in life that bring comfort and contentment.
In this quote, Elizabeth Berg reflects on the small, often overlooked pleasures that bring profound comfort and happiness. She lists everyday moments and experiences, emphasizing how it is the simple, fleeting beauties of life, like nature and childhood laughter, that can provide a deep sense of solace and joy, reminding us to appreciate the little things that enrich our lives.
In practice
In a speech about finding joy in everyday life.
Everybody complains about getting older, but I find it such a rich time of life. There are negative things about it, I suppose, but more than that, I'm finding it to be a very positive experience in which growth suggests itself in a much more alluring way than it did when I was young - isn't that funny?
I never meant to write about the experience of losing a good friend to breast cancer when I was going through it. But after it was over, I realized that although something deeply sad had happened, something truly beautiful also had.
Writing is, of course, a solitary occupation. But for many writers, myself included, it's through writing that we make certain vital connections.
I made cranberry sauce, and when it was done put it into a dark blue bowl for the beautiful contrast. I was thinking, doing this, about the old ways of gratitude: Indians thanking the deer they'd slain, grace before supper, kneeling before bed. I was thinking that gratitude is too much absent in our lives now, and we need it back, even if it only takes the form of acknowledging the blue of a bowl against the red of cranberries.
I'm happy about working; I'm happy about gracing the stage and coming out and making people laugh. I never treat it like a job or feel that way. It's the best thing ever to me, and I feel like a kid in a candy store.
If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.
Happiness is a mystery, like religion, and should never be rationalised.
It struck her how eating was a comfort during a hard time because it reminded you that there had been other days, good days, when you’d eaten the same thing. Reminded you there were good days in life, when precious little else did. (268)
These days, in our materialistic culture, many people are led to believe that money is the ultimate source of happiness. Consequently, when they don’t have enough of it they feel let down. Therefore, it is important to let people know that they have the source of contentment and happiness within themselves, and that it is related to nurturing our natural inner values.
People are so busy chasing happiness- if they would slow down and turn around, they would give it a chance to catch up with them.
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