Last week the sports world was rocked when Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter.  As with any story that has to do with death, especially the death of someone so young, there is talk of how short life is, being grateful for what you have, living every day to its fullest, showing love for those around you. All good. But why do we only recognize the importance of this during a tragedy?

We go through our days rushing, expectant, attached to things like our phones, our hair, our jobs, our homes, our ideations about how our lives “should” be. Sure, we recognize our family as important, but are we really present?

The other morning as I was getting ready for work I passed our fruit bowl, brimming with oranges. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my musical idol, Joni Mitchell, and her Chelsea Morning. Thanks to the magic of Spotify, I was able to immediately listen to it, and I heard it differently this time, thanks to Kobe. There’s never been a better song written about gratitude than this.

We’ll talk in present tenses. Of all of this amazing lyricism, this is my favorite line. Because joy and gratitude comes from being present. Recognizing what’s here right now, be it the song of traffic, the colors sunshine throws on a wall, or a simple bowl of oranges. And especially being present with one you love. It’s seeing beauty everywhere, where there’s a sun show every second.

I imagine that when she wrote this song, her place in Chelsea wasn’t a mansion with the finest curtains, and her breakfast wasn’t a feast, but a simple one of milk and toast. But it was all still beautiful.

Perhaps Joni suffered some tragedies along the way that made her awareness of the little things more pronounced (it is said she moved to Chelsea after splitting with her husband, Chuck Mitchell). I don’t know. Or perhaps she was just in tune with the beauty of the world as an artist.

All I know is that the next time I’m feeling like I need a reminder, I plan to tell Alexa to play “Chelsea Morning” and I will think of Kobe. And I will remember how incredibly beautiful and miraculous the “little things” really are. Every day.