details

this is a picture of pavement on a corner of hastings and kamloops streets. it states "i am not only a sausage maker. i am a chef." and is signed "andrzej". not "andrew", "andrzej". i started to realize that these patches are all over hastings sunrise neighbourhood with quotes or saying from local businesses. andrzej is quoted here, because on the same block there is a polonia sausage house.

i have walked on this pavement thousands of times before i noticed this patch and other patches. i wonder, why are we (including myself) so often preoccupied with the broader picture and fail to notice the details in our lives?

here's a story from paulo coehlo's "alchemist" that comes to my mind when thinking about this. a wise man tells a boy to go enjoy looking around the palace and the garden. but he needs to carr around a spoon full of oil without spilling it. at first he is unable to enjoy the sights because he is too worried about the oil. in the second attempt he enjoys his walk, but comes back to the wise man with an empty spoon. then the wise man says, “the secret to happiness is to see all marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil in the spoon.”

how about: the secret of live is to notice both what is on and in the pavements? :-P