Little Things • Notes from the Mountain No. 18

Little Things

Notes from the Mountain • Issue No. 18

Notes from the Mountain is Mountain Goat Soap Co.'s weekly journal, where I share stories from the outdoors, the workshop, travel, and the everyday adventures that inspire both my life and my work.

I was driving down the interstate this week when I heard one of those sounds every driver dreads.

Crack.

Before I even had time to figure out what had happened, there was a hole in my windshield with a giant starburst of cracks spreading across the glass. The culprit? A rock. Not a tree branch. Not a chunk of concrete. Just one rock kicked up by another vehicle in front of me.

Now I'm driving around with a cracked windshield for the next few weeks, hoping every bump in the road isn't the one that sends the crack all the way across the glass while I wait for a replacement.

It got me thinking. It's amazing how something so small can completely change your day. One rock. One unexpected repair. One more item added to the already incredibly long to-do list.

Thankfully...Life works the other way too.

Also this week, I received an email from a customer. She wrote that receiving her Mountain Goat Soap Co. box is one of the best parts of her day.

I read that sentence a couple of times. Not because it was long or elaborate, but quite the opposite. It was just a simple thought that she took a minute to share. She probably has no idea how much that meant to me.

We spend so much of our time thinking the big moments are the ones that matter most. The big trips. The big accomplishments. The big milestones.

But maybe life is built just as much on the little things. A rock no bigger than your thumb can leave you shopping for a new windshield. A few kind words in an email can completely change someone else's day.

It's easy to underestimate small things because they don't seem important in the moment. Until they are.

So this week, I'm choosing to focus a little less on the cracked windshield and the inconvenience of it all...and a lot more on the reminder that one small act of kindness put everything back into perspective. I think that's a much better way to go through life.

From the Trail:

A short reflection inspired by the outdoors.

"Some days the trail gives us a challenge. Other days it gives us a reminder."

More soon,

Dianne

Bring the outside in.