Life moves fast. It’s important to take your time to experience the simple joys life brings.
This week, we’ll look at a poem by critically acclaimed British poet Wendy Cope titled “The Orange.” The poem explores the little victories we experience every day and how much these small moments brighten our daily lives and make our existence that much more enjoyable. I encourage you to read it aloud.
“At lunchtime I bought a huge orange —
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave —
They got quarters and I had a half.
And that orange, it made me so happy
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.
The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And I enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.”
An orange is such an ordinary object. We see them in grocery stores, our homes and at the dining hall — I’m sure many of us eat them often. But it’s in these ordinary objects where we create moments that we’ll look back on.
Every night back home, my family has dinner together. Family dinners are so normal to many people, treated almost as a chore, where you sit around the table and eat — no matter if you’re happy, sad, mad or sick. You feel inclined to talk even if you don’t want to. Movie nights are another common occurrence where my dad would pick an old western that no one wanted to watch, but we’d sit for a little while anyway.
But now, I’m here miles away from home, and I think about my family dinners and silly movie nights that I would tap out of early to scroll on my phone alone in my room. And I wish I could have those again sooner than Thanksgiving and winter break.
These moments we share with the people around us build connections. Humans are built to connect. We were not created to live life alone. We yearn for companionship. Whether we realize it or not, many experiences in our lives are designed specifically for us to connect with each other.
If you have a roommate — random or selected — the goal is for you to connect. While there is not a 100% success rate with this, and sometimes you don’t get along with your roommate or get a “weird” one, the whole system is set up so you get a built-in companion. The group projects and close-knit seminars are designed so students interact with each other and form bonds.
The huge emphasis on clubs, sports and organizations tries to get you to branch out and find people you feel comfortable with and understood by. It is through these people that you begin to make memories, celebrate your big victories and find moments of comfort in your potential failures.
Just as the orange was shared between friends, humans are made to share experiences. And there is joy in sharing life with someone else.
An orange is conveniently made in a way that is perfect for sharing. It was created already split into halves, quarters or even singular pieces. But as humans, we gave the orange the purpose of being given to one another.
Growing up, we were always told, “Sharing is caring.” And that is true. We share things with each other because we care for them.
We share our sleepless nights, stress, anxiety, anger and every emotion we feel as humans. We look to lean on someone else during times of deep feeling, especially times of joy. You wish to laugh with your friends and the people you enjoy being with. You seek out moments in your day that you can share with your loved ones later to get a laugh or just to experience together.
I feel like it’s often not these big, important moments that I look back on wishing I could relive. It’s the small moments, the laughing in math class with my friends and the bus rides home from swim meets — not the championship meets or graduation.
The little moments in life are the ones we rush past and move on from so quickly — but these are the moments when you need to pause, take a deep breath and recognize the people you are with, the feelings you are having and that they are fleeting. You are all growing, but you’re growing together — and that’s enough.
Embrace the long dinners at the dining hall, where you’re just sitting and talking about nothing, the nights full of laughs and not enough sleep and the bad jokes cracked to try and get someone to stop crying. These are the moments that define your life, not the number of times you got an award or your grade on your last midterm.
The world is harsh and sometimes it’s hard, but the more you show who you are honestly and authentically, the more you will find it reciprocated. The beauty in life lies in the connections you build — the quiet moments shared with others that ultimately mean everything.