#Small Acts

Sowing Wonder, Reaping Seasons of Joyful Surprise

Finally, turning poetry into practice means sowing daily. Choose one seed each morning—notice a texture, thank a helper, share a found fact—and attach it to a cue like boiling water. In the evening, record three wonders in a single line; once a week, share one with someone else. Accept weather: some days will feel barren, yet the underground work continues. Over time, as in any garden, attentive scattering yields unexpected blossoms—and the long, surprising season Hughes promised. [...]

Courage Counted in Today’s Smallest Brave Moments

Finally, measure courage against your context, not someone else’s highlight reel. For a person in grief or illness, getting out of bed may be today’s summit; for another, it is delivering candid feedback. Kristin Neff’s research on self-compassion (2003) shows that kindness to oneself increases resilience and goal persistence. Seneca admired progress more than perfection; Letters 75 considers the soul’s ailments and their gradual remedy. In that spirit, let today’s smallest dare be enough, and let tomorrow’s be next. Courage grows where honest effort meets patient mercy. [...]

Finding Greatness in Everyday Acts and Moments

Ultimately, embracing the wisdom of Marques’s quote invites us to reframe how we perceive the ordinary. Rather than longing for grand events or extraordinary circumstances, we can choose to find greatness in the simple, accessible moments of each day. By doing so, we learn that an ordinary day is not a hindrance to greatness but its very foundation—one that we have the power to shape anew, moment by moment. [...]