It’s something you hear all the time, but what does it mean to you? What does it do for you? I’ve sat here for about 20 minutes already trying to figure out the best way to open this, to get my message out, and this was the best I could come up with. I did my best.

All jokes aside, instead of trying to put together some insightful, funny, or professional opening for this, I think this is best conveyed by telling you what I’m feeling and what I want out of this. I think the idea of the little things is something that has always intrigued me throughout my life. I believe the idea of seeing a bigger picture for its smaller parts is beautiful. Like taking in a breathtaking view and taking into account how clear the sky is, the freshness of the air, or the lushness of the trees in the distance. You may find someone attractive not just because of their looks but also because of the way they laugh, the way they get excited watching another cat video, or just because of the way they look at you lovingly.

You take in all these little things in the moment, but it’s hard to realize it at the time. I think the best way to think about the little things, however, is in the form of nostalgia, which all of these moments become for us at some point. I can vividly recall moments of my life because of something that I just smelled, a song I just heard, or a feeling I just got. These little things bring back the moment for me and the emotions from them, whether good or bad.

I’ve recently gone through a major change in my life, and to say that it’s been hard is an understatement. Being 37 at the time of writing this and trying to re-figure out life from scratch can sometimes feel like the walls are caving in or there’s a big mountain that I have to climb. But breaking down the bigger picture shows me that the mountain is just a bunch of smaller hills that I have to climb one at a time. And this is the first hill.

I came up with the idea of My Favorite Parts a few years ago after leaving a job and industry that I was a part of for about 13 years. I was looking into new careers and wanted to start a blog on my favorite parts of songs on the side. If you don’t happen to know, I LOVE music, and I mean LOOOOVE. Ever since I was young, I’ve just always played music. Through radio, cassette tapes, CDs, vinyl, MP3, and streaming. You name it, I’ve done it. Legally or illegally.

That being said, I’ve always loved little things about songs and have parts that I just gravitate to. You can literally play a song for me on my phone, and I can tell you what my favorite part of that song is. The part that I have to rewind a couple—well, maybe a lot—of times, just hear that melody, the riff on the guitar, the harmony of a group’s voices, or the bridge. I’m sure this is the case for a lot of people, and this is something that I wanted to share and hear back from others. After thinking about it, though, I got excited and thought, “Why stop at music?” This can apply to food, movies, and all types of things. I really wanted to try to do this, buuuut for some reason, I just never did. I wrote two articles that I never posted and just never continued.

I’ve always been a glass-half-full person, so at this particular time in my life where I feel like I’ve lost everything and have nothing, I’ve looked at the little things in my life and realized that I have a lot and that there’s even more to look forward to than what I had. And I want this blog to be one of those things. I want to challenge myself to do this and see it through because I feel like it’s something I can really love doing. I also realize now that it falls into the overall idea of the little things because our favorite parts are just smaller pieces of the bigger whole.

I’ve also always been a giver. I believe a lot of people in my life would agree with this. So, even though I think this experience will ultimately help me, I also want to help someone else, even if it’s just one person. If there’s someone going through a tough time in life and all they can focus on is the big negative, hopefully this will help them focus on the small positives in their life and help them push through and pass on the positive vibes to the next person.

So, if you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you giving me your time. I think this will be a fun experience, and I’m looking forward to sharing my favorite parts with you, hearing some of yours, and hopefully putting something positive back into the world. I’ve got some ideas of how to make this awesome overall, but it’s going to take me a bit. I’m literally teaching an old dog new tricks, so wish me luck as I roll over, play fetch, sit, and speak. Insert catchphrase that I’ll come up with at some point. Peace!