(Un) Remarkable

Sometimes I get sucked into reading books based on their cover. Remarkable by Lizzy K. Foley was one of those books for me. It was an adorable read that seemed a bit like a combo of A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Mysterious Benedict Society.

One of the things I realized as I read this book was that many people feel unremarkable. I tend to think that only I do. But in reality everyone does at different times or in different aspects of life - and that is okay, and normal.

The Mayor of Remarkable is married to one of the only "unremarkable" people in the whole town (his name is John Doe) and the grandmother of the only other "unremarkable" person - a young girl named, you guessed it, Jane Doe.

The Mayor or Remarkable tells her grand-daughter at one point:

...despite what most people think, the best things in life are often quite ordinary.

It's true - ordinary = awesome. Or at least my experiences have taught me that over and over again.

I appreciated that the book didn't end with Jane becoming remarkable at something (oops, spoiler alert!). The culminating moment for me was this - Jane gets a puppy sent to her by a former teacher turned pirate (bizarre, I know :) and in this exchange she is talking to the twins who she has been hoping would invite her to their home:

"No, thanks," Jane said, looking up from her puppy for the first time since she'd gotten him. Her face was a happy mix of amazement and joy.

"What do you mean?" Melissa demanded. She had never in a million years guessed that Jane wouldn't accept an invitation to enter their creepy black house. "We're giving Dirt a chance to be something special, you know."

"He doesn't need to be special," Jane said firmly. "All he needs to be is my dog." And with that, she walked home with Dirt Cuddled in her arms.

We, like Dirt, are remarkable to someone (and we don't have to be remarkable to everyone). And perhaps more importantly, we have the ability to make someone else feel remarkable (instead of like dirt) - and by that I mean we can show others that we love them and appreciate what they have to offer.

Bad Day (or Two Months :)

It's been a rough past while for me, if you hadn't already gathered.

Today I made a decision - it's time to start a new trend, and the song Happy Girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsQi3bvgM9s) is going to be my new theme song :)

I liked this particular video for the quotes they added running across the bottom like:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

Here's to a new start!

Nobody?

The train isn't working at the station I normally use so everyone has to get off and get on a shuttle bus. Not fun.

Coming home tonight I decided I wasn't going to let it get to me and I'd just enjoy my book.

Well, as I headed out of the station for the shuttle I noticed that someone was talking to me. He said, for at least the second time, "No one is that important."

I smiled at him and wondered if I had accidentally cut him off going up the stairs or something. He says again, first looking at me and then moving on to no one in particular, "No really, no one is that important. I can't wait to leave this city. I've lived here for 30 years. Everyone is distracted."

My heart went out to him. I'm sad that he's had some (or maybe a lot of) bad experiences and is feeling so frustrated.

But it also made me think - actually, everyone is that important. We all have great value and deserve to be respected and treated well. We shouldn't feel less than those around us, nor should we treat others as if some people are more important human beings than others.

That's a good reminder for me in my fast paced life where I can get wrapped up in me - what I want and need - and forget that I'm not the only one with feelings and desires and expectations.