The Details

 

Down in their hearts wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others. ~Elbert Hubbard 

When we are planning anything in life, we are thinking of the destination and goals that we want to achieve, but it is truly the little things in place that get us there. A girl has to pack her socks if she wants to be ready to wear her shoes for the mountain climb. All the big plans we hope for are full of smaller details that cannot be forgotten. 

All those pesky little things, life is full of them! To do lists, errands, dry-cleaning, doctor appointments and the list goes on! So many of the seemingly mundane tasks occupy our day and fill our baggage, but in our life, there are many other details that have more significance in the big scheme of things.  

When I first applied for a job in the Harris County Library system, I tried to think of what skills I had that made me an asset to be considered for hire. I had a cleaning business for over 20 years, and I knew that one of the main attributes a house cleaner must have is an attention to detail. Seeing the cobwebs and stains on the countertop requires a closer look from possibly another angle. I knew that I wanted to point that out in my interview or on my application, but when I actually started working at the library helping customers, I realized there was another element to the concept, “attention to detail”. 

It isn’t just about seeing when a book is out of place on a shelf or knowing how to properly send a document to print for a customer, it is actually much more personal than that. When it comes to customer service, sometimes the needs that come up are much less technical, and much more intimate in nature.  I am talking about emotional needs that sometimes arise that we need to be aware of in the usual situations of helping customers.  

People come into the library for many reasons, and sometimes it is simply to get the next great book on their list, but other times it could be stressful in nature, like getting information for medical help for a terminally ill loved one.  That being said, we may never know the details of what they are facing, but we can be attentive and mindful when someone seems to be frustrated or having a bad day. I have had several instances where it was obvious that someone needed some extra help and support to get what they were doing accomplished, and sometimes that included being a listening and caring ear in the process.  

The details are more than orderly shelves, the correct copies, and requesting that hard-to-find book.  Sometimes the truest details are in the very people we are trying to help. Taking the time to notice the sadness behind a smile or reading the body language of dismay from a difficult day and responding accordingly can make all the difference for that person in need of a few copies at their local library.  

 Yes, life is full of small details that are part of the bigger goal each one of us is trying to attain. May we all try our best to remember the details that matter most.  

 

© Carrie Van Horn 2023

The Magnificence of Hope

"Indigo Sky Mares" by Laurel Burch

Click HERE for her website.

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse #147

Some things have to be believed to be seen. ~Ralph Hodgson

Magnificence surrounds us

it touches sky and souls like wings

it is all a true miracle

from birth to passing on

the freedom to inhale

to see and truly be

I am blessed to have known you

the one that made me surely see

the vision of hope is a freedom

a force as wild as horses with no fence

it is mine and yours to tame and ride

If only we truly will.

 

I Crossed a Wild River

Linking with Imaginary Gardens for The Tuesday Platform brought to us by Pat


Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett


I crossed a wild river of all that was
and I lost all that I left behind
winds of change can be unmerciful
and even more so unkind

cobble stone and mortar
foundation and rail
oh the stories they hold 
if they had a voice to tell the tale

So much devastation so much change
lives lost, piles of rubble
and life's plans rearranged

but through it all
 we have grown strong and wise
rebuilt buildings, recovered homes
and repaired lives

Humanity is resilient 
and courageous in storm and loss.
man gives all when all can seem lost

So looking back now 
under a sunny and cloudless sky
I can see the miracles 
that in crisis did arise

for once I crossed a wild river of all that was
and I lost all I had before
but in the process
 I also gained so much more.

When Big Men Weep

Source


 linking with Imaginary Gardens for "The Tuesday Platform"
Brought to us by Sanaa 

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.  Without them humanity cannot survive."

~ Dalai Lama

It is a true expedition of the heart when big men weep

for walls are broken and lines of hate vanish when hearts open wide

humanity's song is a cry that echoes loudly

in a place large with solace where camaraderie of the spirit is found

it is not a luxury but an utter need to connect and feel

a need held by the eccentric the fool and the wise

we are human we reach out

we fall alone

yet together

we rise.

The Dance Floor

Google Images

Linking with Imaginary Gardens for Bits of Inspiration ~ Keep Dancing

Imagined by Susie 

Come join us!

How can we know the dancer from the dance? ~William Butler Yeats

Sometimes humanity resembles the dancers on a dance floor;

each busily perfecting their moves,

never seeing passed their own steps,

hoping to impress

all the others...

but it is in vain...

for all the others

are doing the same.

A Bigger Fish

Meal Beach, Burrs Island,Shetland by Robin Gosnall

The Mag #159


"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."  ~T.S. Eliot




Mankind is the hunter of new horizons, the seeker of something more
pushing to greater lands as does the waves unto the shore.
He moves on ever further as a hardy ship upon the sea
hoping for fulfillment yet longing to be set free.
Sometimes it is a journey beyond the outskirts of the furthest town
and others it is a sojourn inward to reach what's lost and make it found.
Like the surfer hunts the perfect wave and the fisherman a bigger fish
so does the human spirit search for something greater...a purpose within his fists.

Star Out of Sky

image by Alex Stoddard

The Mag # 114

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

~Teilhard de Chardin

This world is but an aquarium that is the place that we now swim.

It is not the destination nor is it where we once had been.

Our time here is brief like snowflakes floating under glass,

as we glide in these waters with particles from the past.

We voyage forward within the confines of this space,

in a constant pool of learning, preparing for a better place.

Like a fish out of water......or a star out of sky,

this is not our home;

it is a stepping stone for you and I.

An Extravagant Parade

image: epic mahoney

The Mag 105

"All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem."

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

We march forward with ungraceful steps like cattle unto a trough.

It is an awkward parade that in drought and rain knows not when to stop. 

The further we go the faster the pace, and the more extravagant is the cost.

For in the parade of progress pieces of humanity can get lost.

This week I was not able to get on the internet this weekend, so I had a friend describe the picture to me on the phone.  She did a wonderful job describing it to me, but somehow I visioned the man riding his bike in the desert heading to a neon lit phonebooth, and progress and its affects came to mind.  So that is why I went with  the progress parade.  After actually seeing the picture this morning, I think I could have gone other directions with it, but like progress there is no turning back for me now.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday. :-)

A Thousand Voices One Solitary Cry

The Mag #104

"Man is a knot into which relationships are tied. "
~Antoine de Saint


 

It begins at birth this ever yearning need

to declare our feelings through sigh and scream

we cry for connection we long for home

a place to share and someone to hold

it is a universal ache that all hearts have

the hunger for expression that other souls will grasp
only one answer yet so many questions why
a thousand voices one solitary cry.




The need to be heard, accepted, and  understood is a longing that transcends all cultures and creeds.  We have many stories to tell, but the yearning between those lines is the same.  So no matter what continent he resides there is no man that  is really that different when it comes to the matters of the heart.   In honor of the human heart, I  hope that everyone at The Mag and in Bloggerland has a wonderful Valentine's Day!



A Thirsty Place

Magpie #61

 "Loneliness is the most terrible poverty."  ~Mother Teresa



 I got a glimpse of it in a homeless man's eyes
I heard it in a poverty stricken child's cry
I felt it in a widowed woman's grasp
I tasted it in the kiss of a love I once had
I mingled with it holding a bottle of champagne
I fled from it once in a crowded jet plane
Yet no matter where I go or choose to stay
Loneliness is always a thirsty place.

For more  in your glass go to lovely Tess's Magpie Tales

Just A Glimmer

With just a glimmer of strength you could stop the raging sea.

With just a glimmer of grace you could set the captives free.

With just a glimmer of hope you could clear a stormy sky.

With just a glimmer of light you could make a rainbow in the night.

With just a glimmer of faith you could heal a world of scars.

With just a glimmer of love you could build a bridge between two hearts.

With just a glimmer of truth you could open up people's eyes accross the land.

With just a glimmer of compassion the whole world could reach out a helping hand.

With just a glimmer of forgiveness you could turn a war into peace.

With just a glimmer of God all mankind would fall down to his knees.

"A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. " ~Author Unknown

Sharing with lovely Emily at Imperfect Prose

 

The Strongest Strand

Magpie #40

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

~Mother Teresa

We stand together an assortment of pearls tightly strung in place

embracing hope's truest strand longing for something greater in the end

but when our clasp together catches on the snags of life we rip apart

scattering in all dirrections yet unlike the pearl that gets lost amongst

the rubble underneath a couch never to be found

man makes his way back

fastening together

thread to stone

hand to hand

one heart

at a

time.

I have always been fascinated by the way that mankind has so many different cultures, traditions and beliefs, and yet, ultimately,we are all truly the same.  We nurture and adore our children ,work in some way to put food on the table, and long to make a difference in our sphere of influence.  We are worlds apart, yet as close knit as jewels on a strand.  Humanity, not matter how diverse, truly is an emblem of the bonds of the heart.

To see more takes on the prompt check out lovely Willow's Magpie Tales