The Little Things
photo by Liz Labunski
I met Adam while working in a small metaphysical bookstore one summer. He came into the store one day dressed in brown shorts, a short-sleeved tan shirt, and hiking boots. On his back was a student-sized backpack; in his hand he carried a five-foot walking stick. Right away this slender, middle-aged, slightly balding man approached me and handed me his card. Along with his name and telephone number, the card identified him as, “A person at leisure”. I asked him what it meant, and instead of telling me, he spent the rest of the summer showing me.
Adam’s smiling eyes and gems of wisdom visited me often during that summer. He taught me how to use the I Ching, we spent many hours in between customers tossing coins and pondering over life’s big questions. Each time he visited me, he brought me a gift. Once he brought home-made bread. Another time he gave me a jar of blueberry honey. Other days, I received various teas and incense, and once a book. But when I would try and reciprocate, only rarely would he accept one; his excuse was that it would have been too much to carry.
He always came adorned with a bird’s feather or a flower, leaving an indelible impression of Adam connected with nature. I could clearly see the respect he had for life. He told me that time is precious and that each moment must count, with no fear or hesitation, and like Ghandi, he thought we should discard what is not needed or useful. His way of course, was to pass things along in the form of gifts to friends.
There was no room for clutter in his life, because he only lived in one small room. He claimed he did nothing most of the time, but he always seemed happy and laughed often with the carefree abandon of a child. Most days, when I asked him how he was, Adam said, “Incredible,” or “Wonderful, as always”.
When I moved away, he sent me postcards with short sweet messages and Japanese brush drawings. We stayed in touch for awhile, and then drifted apart, but I never forgot his appreciation for the little things in life, his love of nature, his kindness to strangers, and his joy of living.
