A few weeks ago, in preparation for a meeting with a client at work, I started fishing around my computer for a list of some slang words used in various Spanish-speaking countries. I typed into my search window on my computer “slang,” thinking I’d find the document that way. But as my luck would have it, virtually everything containing the word “slang” in it came up, except for the document I was looking for, including text conversations I had no idea were archived.
Curious to see what would come up, and succumbing to my ever-shortening attention span (thanks, technology), I scrolled down to find an old portion of my application to the University of Washington. It was about slang. The prompt asked us to talk about a word we believe has lost its meaning. I chose to write about the word “awesome.”
I began like this: “Awesome is no longer reserved for what is awe-inspiring or characterized by awe. Awesome is the discount we get for buying a six-pack of gum. Awesome is the chocolate cake dished out at a birthday party. Awesome is the fact that your local market is open on New Year’s Eve day. None of those things are magnificent, awe-inspiring, sublime, or the least bit majestic. I believe they do not deserve the word ‘awesome.’ ”
Though I still agree with my 17-year-old self that calling a discount on a pack of gum “awesome” maybe does water down the meaning of the word, it got me thinking about appreciation. It made me think about how technology, in some ways, has caused us to forget to appreciate the small things. Forget that everywhere we look we are surrounded by amazing feats of the time period these technologies were created in. In a society where we’re always looking for the next new great thing, and progress means a newer this, a “smarter” that, a faster this, a shinier that, we lose sight of the wonderful things that are in our everyday lives.
Louis C.K. appeared on Conan O’Brien’s late show in 2015. In part of his segment, he commented how “everything is amazing yet nobody is happy.” He asked us to think, for a moment, about how far we’ve come with changes in society, and how at this moment, we may be better off going back to “simpler” times, because maybe we’d be more appreciative of what we have.
Sometimes, I just sit around and stare at things and think about how awesome and amazing it all is. (I promise I haven’t lost it.) Someone had to come up with an idea for something that is now so common, it’s seen as everyday, normal. But if you think about it, some of these everyday things are some of the most genius inventions.
Ziploc bags? Think about it. Yeah, it’s plastic and gets thrown away (I am not a fan of that, though.) But someone sat down one day and thought, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to carry things around in a bag that won’t spill? Someone had to invent the Ziploc of the Ziploc bag.
I realize now that I probably sound a little insane — who sits around thinking about how amazing Ziploc bags are? But I truly believe that it’s time get back to work appreciating the small things in life. We are in an age where technology is rapidly changing. Where talk of self-driving cars, much to my dismay, are becoming a more regular topic of conversation.
And while I am certainly grateful for many technological advancements, new technology has become the focus of excitement. I would love to see the things we call were once hailed as phenomenal achievements, the so-called “little” things, everyday objects called “awesome.” As Louis C.K. said, we are often so quick to think that the “world owes us something,” because in an age where it only take seconds to send a text message, we have grown more impatient, more quick to complain when something takes much longer, or isn’t up “with the times.”
You don’t have to be naive or simplistic to appreciate so-called “small” things. I am the last person to look through rose-colored glasses. Unfortunately, I am sometimes very quick to think worst-case-scenario. When something happens, I can often spiral, “catastrophize,” as my mother says. So, when I say that I believe there is merit in appreciating what may seem like the smallest thing, I don’t say it lightly.
When I appreciate the small moments, appreciate the little things, the little revelations about life I have, it undoubtedly has made me happier in harder times. “Take time to stop and smell the roses” may be a relatively old and frequently-used saying, but right here and now, it’s as important to remember as ever.
Anna Polumbo-Levy can be reached at annapl@umich.edu