Platitudes Top the List of Pet Peeves

Everybody has pet peeves. As a writer, banal platitudes top my list.

After chatting about our busy schedules, an acquaintance recently admonished me to “stop and smell the roses.” While I appreciated the sentiment, deep in my wordsmith’s soul I couldn’t help cringing at that unimaginative cliché. The English language holds a wealth of descriptive words exponentially more inspiring than “stop and smell the roses.” Surely she could do better than that.

To begin with, gardening metaphors are wasted on me. Anyone who knows me is aware of my black thumb. I cannot even keep houseplants alive, and have no desire to muck around out in the flowerbed sticking my nose into questionably fragrant flora. To truly spur me to embrace a restful activity, a more appropriate exhortation is in order.

For instance, I love animals – why not give me an example from the realm of fur and fauna that I can relate to? Turn that pet peeve platitude into a paradigm. If the idea is for me to pause and become absorbed in an ordinary object, just tell me to tap into my inner cat.

Cats are fascinated by the mundane. They are perfect illustrations of how to enjoy the simple things in life. They will perch on the edge of the bathtub and watch the water dripping from the spout. They’ll bat at the window when a moth flutters against the glass on the other side. A ball of aluminum foil will have them chasing and pouncing for hours. Cats don’t know how to multi-task. They don’t have planners or To Do lists. They focus on doing one thing until they tire of it.

Then they nap.

Napping is a restful activity.

I think I can relate to that. No roses required.