No Small Thing

** "The greatest poet hardly knows pettiness or triviality. If he breathes into any thing that was before thought small, it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe." -Walt Whitman ** Today while traveling in a new town, I bought a slice of pizza and took it down to a sunny pebbly beach, where the waves were lapping quietly and tumbling the rocks in a clickety-clack way, and a duo of musicians were playing while sitting on driftwood logs behind me: one had an acoustic guitar, steady and full...and the other an electric guitar, energetic and scattering notes every which way into the air. It was such an enjoyable experience—and later on while driving home, listening to No Small Thing, I thought: This! That! They had such a similar feeling. The hosts have said before that the podcast is maybe like a conversation happening in the corner of a party, and it feels that way, too (but a good one, not some strained, shallow small talk by which you feel suffocated): something comfortably casual, and enlivening, and thought-provoking. And full of questioning, and curiosity. I recently heard it said that “curiosity is an antidote to unkind thought” … and that is how I feel! This podcast opens up conversation which opens up minds which opens up hearts which hopefully opens up hands in translation to living a kinder life. And more multi-faceted, to boot. Maybe a bit like being fueled by oceanside musicians serenading you over your feta cheese and fluffy crust. Mmmm.

I saw Scott Gronholz at a grocery store in Seattle yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s even a real word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly. Anyway, great podcast Scott! Keep up with the good work.

I love to stretch my brain while also not feeling exhausted when I’m done with a podcast. This is the perfect balance. Mace and Scott have the loveliest banter. I feel like I’ve been invited into their living room and we’re just chatting about what interests us. Really grateful for the invitation to lean into curiosity with respect to certainty. Highly recommend!

This show is not good