Simplicity

Sometimes, the simplest things can change our lives - a summer breeze, a crowded hallway. They happen when we least expect it, sometimes when our hearts aren’t ready, like a smile from an old friend. They work slowly, discreetly, and in little doses, like your favorite food on a bad day, or the sound of the rain softly falling.

Little by little, these things transform you, in ways too tiny to detect. Other people may not see it, but you know something’s changed. You just can’t put your finger on what. In a crowded hallway you’re always searching for that smile. On rainy days you stick your palm out, feel the raindrops, and your heart sings.

And slowly, it dawns on you. The rain isn’t just rain anymore. It has become the memories of a cozy blanket, of hands wrapped around mugs of hot chocolate. A bite of your favorite dish brings you to sepia-toned lunch times in your school canteen, to the distant clanking of utensils, to the aroma of shared food, to the company of good friends. And when you feel the wind blowing through your hair, you flash back to golden summers, to bicycles and sandcastles and slippers and love. So simple, and yet so beautiful.