Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places: Little Victories

Last Sunday I went to the Matt Nathanson concert at the University of Iowa. I was first exposed to him when Mary gave me a CD mix which included his song, "Little Victories." Then thanks to the crack that is Pandora, I started hearing and enjoying more of his music. I was thrilled when I heard he was coming to UI for Riverfest.

He was in a mellow mood that night and decided to play some of this older songs. And much to my delight, he played "Little Victories." It turned out to be a bit of an emotional experience. See there was a time when I listened to "Little Victories" on a daily basis - in the time before and after comps. As Nathanson introduced the song: "This song is about life. About how sometimes things are great and sometimes you're dealt $#!&-ty cards. This song is for when you're dealt those $#!&-ty cards." Yeah, comps was one of those times when I held unfavorable cards in my hands, and Nathanson's song became a little mantra I could use to get through the long, impossible days. Somewhere in the middle of his performance, I realized that it was the two year anniversary of my comps date. Two years ago to the hour, I had been sitting in a Cheesecake Factory in Milwaukee when I randomly started crying for the ump-teenth time that day. (I did pass my exams despite what the previous sentence suggests.) After that night, I slowly started to trust in the little victories that get us through the day. And gradually these victories started to add up. Two years later, listening to this song, my world looked much different.

I had parked my car at EPB, so as I walked from the Union to the parking lot, I got a chance to think about all that had happened in the past two years. I stopped for a while and looked at EPB. I thought about the last five years; I thought about the next year, and I gave thanks for little victories that have and will see me through.