Little things have always mattered to me, perhaps a bit too much. There was a point in life when I spoke without thinking, moved without noticing, and left behind unintentional wounds like footprints on soft ground. Only later did I learn that kindness is not some grand moral achievement but a simple act, almost absurd in how effortless it is.
I began to see it in the most ordinary moments. I realized that showing a little gratitude to the rickshaw puller after he takes you to your destination can quite literally make his day. A stranger who lives most of his days unnoticed. I found that a small acknowledgment, a brief thank you, could briefly disturb the long silence of their lives. And in that disturbance, something softened in mine.
Since then, I have cared, though the word feels too small for what it became. I cared for the people who orbit my life and for those whose names I will never know. Yet there is an odd expectation that slips into these gestures, a quiet hope that kindness will return in the same shape it was given. It rarely does. People disappoint, though not always out of malice. Often the fault lies in the invisible weight of our own expectations. We give, and somewhere inside us waits a hand to receive.
I have tried to unlearn that, I really did. To help without imagining the return, to speak gently without the secret desire for gentleness back. The small things matter more to me now than they ever did, and I suspect they will until the last breath leaves my body.
I have never found the amusements in grand celebrations or expensive gifts. Those things feel hollow, to me at least. What I would treasure instead is perhaps a letter, written by a tired hand late at night, gathering moments and memories like fallen leaves. It has never taken much to make me smile.
Notice the things others overlook, the quiet details in someone's day or someone's clothing, and suddenly the world appears brighter, though you may not know why. It is in these small, fragile gestures that life becomes bearable, and sometimes even beautiful.