words become superfluous

Sorry I’m so late tonight guys! When I first sat down to write this post, I was all set to tell you about the fabulous time I had the other night at Snakes and Lattes. Board games and caffeinated beverages, together in one place makes for one happy Amb!

But thinking about how much I look forward to sharing fun things with you all led to a different post altogether. Read on and see what happened. love, amb.

The other day I overheard someone talking on their cell phone in the elevator. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but the elevator is a bit …cozy, even for a pocket-sized girl like myself, so I couldn’t really help myself. Sound travels, you know what I’m saying?

Anyway, this person was talking about how they were concerned about the mental health of a loved one, and trying to figure out how they could best help and support them during what was obviously a difficult and scary time. It made me feel downright grateful for the fight I had gotten into with my alarm clock earlier that morning; I mean, if that was the extent of the challenges I was going to be confronted with during the day, then things were suddenly looking pretty good for me.

It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the small inconveniences of my own life, especially when I’m dealing with uncooperative  emails in Corporate World or uncooperative winter weather outside of it, that I sometimes lose perspective. The truth is, if you put any random group of people together (say, in an elevator on their way to work) the odds are good that at least one of them is dealing with something a lot scarier than email responses or a little snow.

A pretty heavy thought for a Thursday night, no? Don’t worry! I’ve been pondering this on and off for a couple of days now, and I think I’ve found something that will help. The good news, my friends, is that there’s a silver lining: this situation has a flip side. You see, the flip side to not knowing what people are dealing with is that you also never know when a small gesture might make a big difference to someone.

Maybe that girl in the elevator could have cared less when I told her how much I loved her coat … or maybe it helped, for a minute, to brighten up her day. I choose to believe the latter.

When I think about it, that’s really what I’m all about here at Words Become Superfluous. Sure, I know that swooning over my legions of imaginary boyfriends or showing off the photography skills of Shutterbug Sis won’t address any pressing social issues, but I like to think I can make you smile for a minute or two. And hey, for all I know, that’s exactly what you need right now.

PS: Snakes and Lattes was, as expected, about 7 kinds of awesome. Just look at all these games! And this was only one corner of one shelf of the cafe! I had a blast, and even found inspiration for an upcoming Wordful Wednesday!

So many games, so little time!