Big Things, Little Things

My High School classmates from the Escuela Americana in San Salvador met for our 30th class reunion at the beach. I’m sad that I couldn’t attend; it just wasn’t in the cards for me this time. My friend Juanito Mejia, the author of the most sublime of thoughts, wrote the class, and wrote me specifically, some heartfelt words. I should add that at no time during my 12 years of school with him did his exceptional writing abilities appear in my radar . What he wrote to me this time is about his memory of me during a senior trip to Panchimalco, a world patrimony town of Colonial architecture, and how he remembers me making something festive out of ordinary things. “Hacias de una cosa ordinaria algo festivo”. Maybe he meant that I have a knack of making big things out of little things. I don’t remember showing that trait that early, but I have to say, Juanito is the owner of a powerful emotional memory- a trait that also went below the radar- therefore I take him at his word. Fastforward 30 years: my definition of a little thing is to be a participant of life. Just check in. Remind myself that” life” – like the Beatles sung- “ is what happens while you’re making other plans”. Remember to be a part of the family, neighborhood, city, nation, hemisphere, world, planet everyday. Contribute in a small way to better building, to helping families live better, to provoking dialogue. Now for bigger things: save the planet. Perhaps Juanito is right. Perhaps I made a big things out of the simple things of everyday nature to salvadoreans, like the fact that to me water was life, and a precious commodity. I was reminded daily by the young children whose family chore it was to awaken before dawn and go fill the clay jarra with water and deliver it by foot, on their heads to their homes for their daily needs. You see, I passed these children every day on my way to school, not one child like me, but many, not one day, but every day. I tried lifting to my head one of these jarras full of water, wanting to believe that they weren’t as heavy as they seemed; I still suffer from overextended shoulders and headaches from that little social experiment… Big thing: we are completely dependant on water, most importantly on clean purified water. Little thing: invest in a good water filter for your home or apartment. Casa Concept can put you in the direction of a good one.