Love is in the Little Things

I am writing about The God of Small Things this morning – getting my notes organised for my exploration about shame and guilt and the damage that the revelation of secrets wreaks in many stories. In The God of Small Things the love between Velutha, an untouchable and Ammu, from a respectable family, knocks the whole world off its orbit in 1960s Kerala. People drown, people die, people are damaged and banished. A small love that made two lonely people happy reverberated in the world and instead of making lives better made lives worse.

Ammu and Velutha loved for a little while and lost everything. I am reminded this morning of how love is in the little things. In the glances, and touches, in the knowing each other and remembering those things that matter to the other. Love should embrace us and keep us safe against the world, especially when the world crumbles around us.

Did Vicky Pryce take Chris Huhn’s points as an act of love – as a wife helping defend her husband against a malevolent world? Or did he use his love to bully her into doing something she knew was wrong? Did he have the right to turn to her in his hour of need and expect her to help him out? Would you have done the same for your partner?

Many of us do not rattle the (fictional) world as Ammu and Velutha did, nor upset the legal world as Vicky and Chris. We live and love quietly, rubbing along together, falling out, forgiving; staying the course. Sometimes we go our separate ways…

Today, remember the little things of your love. Remember why you fell in love in the first place, why you stay together. Do something kind, show you care today and tomorrow and next week too.

 

Some little things to do for your partner that will make a big difference:

Make a cup of tea or coffee

Make lunch or dinner – something special or something ordinary, it matters not, it is the action that matters, the doing

Make the bed!

Clean the bathroom

Compliment them – but something simple and genuine

Give them a hug, or a kiss

Buy a bottle of champagne with a red ribbon tied in a bow (it worked a treat for me this Valentine’s Day)

Buy them their favourite treat

Take them out for a meal – even offering to go out will make an impact

Chat about a time when you were happy together

Laugh together

Have sex – the more the better – some things always matter no matter how old or battered your body gets

Make plans for the weekend or the summer

Tell them you still love them

Forgive them their sillinesses and faults – remember you have a truck-load yourself! (Images courtesy Google Images)

Tags: Ammu, Chris Huhn, forgive each other, have sex, laugh together, The God of Small Things, the love laws, Velutha, Vicky Pryce