My absolute favourite smell in the world is the sweet aroma given off every spring by blossoming cherry trees.

Or is it plum trees? Or lilacs?

I’ve spent at least the past decade trying to determine the specific source of the smell and am still no closer to finding the answer.

I’ve crossed highways and hopped fences more times than I can count to bury my nose in the nearest blossoming tree whenever I catch the faintest whiff. And while all I’ve been able to narrow it down(ish) to the three trees mentioned above, none of them is quite right.

My best guess at this point is that it’s actually some mix of all three of these trees, mingling and diffusing to create a magical concoction more enticing than any of them on their own.

For as long as I can remember, this smell has, for me, marked the arrival of spring.

And every year, without fail, it catches me off guard, appearing one day in full force only to disappear just as suddenly a few short weeks later.

I spend those three or so weeks breathing deeper than I do the rest of the year, going for more and longer walks, seeking out that elusive smell, and basking in its ephemeral beauty whenever I stumble across (or hop fences or cross highways to find) it.

A few weeks ago, I got my first whiff of it for this spring.

The Magic Of The Mundane

Part of the appeal–and the mystery–of this smell is its ubiquity, if not temporally, then at least geographically.

It’s one of those smells that is tied inextricably to my memories of childhood on the Canadian prairies, but I’ve since encountered it all over the world.

From my years living in Vancouver to Edinburgh, to Belgrade, to Italy, and more. I hope to one day experience the Sakura bloom in Japan and imagine that perhaps I’ll encounter the same alluring aroma there as well, perhaps at its most fully-realized.

These past weeks, as I’ve been burying my nose in every blossoming tree I can see, this ever-elusive smell I’ve been struck by the immense, eternally-captivating power of the simple, mundane, and familiar, and the opportunities that embracing it presents us as creators.

So often as creators, we convince ourselves that the only things worth creating are immense, profound, and utterly transformative on the people we create them for.

We tell ourselves that for our work to be meaningful it must be broad in scope and deep in depth. That the impact and change are to be measured by marked shifts in our communities and industries if not broader upheaval of the status quo.

It’s true, this is important work to aspire to.

But it’s not the only type of work to aspire to.

And while aiming to create impact at the highest possible level can be inspiring, it can also be debilitating when we begin to sense ourselves incapable of ever living up to the expectations we’ve set of ourselves.

Life-Changing vs Life-Affirming?

Whether or not we contribute to it, the world is already in a state of upheaval.

It’s always continually eating and regurgitating and reinventing itself at a pace that can be exhausting to keep up with, as individual humans as well as communities, networks, societies, and cultures.

We would do well to remember, that in the midst of upheaval, it’s often the small, mundane, and familiar that make the greatest difference and are, in fact, the most necessary.

These things ground us, comfort us, and connect us–to ourselves, to each other, to our collective and personal past and future.

The smell of fresh-cut grass, or fresh-baked bread or coffee brewing as you lie in bed on a Sunday morning.

The soft kiss of sun on skin in early spring, or the caress of a cool breeze at the peak of summer heat.

The sound of rain on the pavement, or thunder rippling across an open plain, or the sea, breaking onto a rocky coastline, or the kettle whistling away on the stove.

A  simple, hearty meal with good friends, or sitting around a campfire, whether lost in thought or deep in conversation.

These are rarely life (let alone world)-changing experiences. They’re familiar, mundane, expected. Many of them are within our ability to reach out and engage with at any time.

And yet their power is immense.

Small Contributions Can Be Deeply Meaningful

While we might measure and remember our lives by the life-changing peak experiences and accomplishments, it’s the small, mundane, universal stuff of life in-between that actually makes life worth living, and is the source of many of our greatest joys.

I used to think we should all be aspiring to change the world with the work that we do, if not globally then at least communally.

Now I’m not so sure.

The truth is, we’re not all cut out to change the world, and the pressure to aspire to that level of impact often stunts our ability to create deeply meaningful work on an alternative scale.

Narrower in scope perhaps, but no less important.

While we may not all have the ability to create world-changing work, it’s within all of our reach to create something small in scale that manages to move people in a meaningful way.

When repeated, we can build an entire career on it.

A new take on an old classic, a subtle shift on the familiar. Work that adds to the richness of life. That connects rather than disrupts. That seeks simply to deliver joy, even (maybe especially) if only in the smallest of doses.

We could always use more joy after all.

We can each aspire to be like our favourite band, the one that no one else has ever heard of but will always mean the world to us. Who are inextricably tied to our story and sense of self, even if they never hit it big or gained broader recognition.

We can bake bread, build campfires, and like the cherry (or plum or lilac) blossoms, create work that’s magic lies not in its scope and grandeur, but in its grounded comfort, familiarity, and simplicity.

Not in its ability to change life, but to affirm it and to make it worth living.

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This article originally appeared in my weekly Listen Up Newsletter. Each issue is the product of a week of work, and contains something not available for sale.

Fresh perspective, a shot of encouragement when you need it most, and maybe even some genuine wisdom from time to time.

Each week, we explore a different facet of the question “How do we navigate the wilderness of creating work that matters?”

It’s something I’m proud to create and I’d be honoured to share it with you.

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