June 22, 2025|Unwritten & Understood
Author’s Note
Robert came home one day while I was reading a book about overthinking. The book explained something that stuck with me: we all have great ideas—those are thoughts. But then comes the thinking—the spiral where we convince ourselves those thoughts are too risky. Too vulnerable. Too exposed. So we shelve them. And in doing that, we often abandon something that could’ve made a real difference.
Robert told me about a moment like that.
He had almost written a site-wide email at work, sharing a simple story about a woman who inspired him outside of his job. Her actions had moved him deeply. But he overthought it. He didn’t want anyone to feel overlooked, or as if their efforts weren’t enough. So he said nothing.
I thought about that story for weeks. And now, almost a month later, I’m the one writing it—because he didn’t send it because his heart is in the right place…
But he noticed it for the exact same reason.
And if you understand that difference,
you’ll understand why I had to share it.
He’s not someone who seeks attention.
He doesn’t post much.
He doesn’t over-share.
But every now and then, he tells me something that subtly changes the way I see the world.
This was one of those stories.
He was walking into work one morning when he noticed a woman out front near one of the flower beds.
She was dressed nicely in professional attire, not gardening gear.
Definitely not someone you’d expect to see tugging at unwelcome shrub.
But there she was, pulling weeds with her bare hands.
It caught him off guard.
There are staff whose job is to handle things like that, he silently thought.
And she clearly wasn’t one of them.
Maybe she felt the hesitation in his glance, because she looked up and smiled.
“Oh, I just come out here and pull a little bit each day,” she said.
Not an obligation.
Just a little personal investment.
Later that afternoon, when Robert was leaving for the day,
he walked past that same flower bed again.
The woman was gone.
But the spot where she’d been?
It was the best-looking flower bed on the entire site.
Clean. Cared for.
Something that we don’t always stop and notice—
but glares at us when neglected.
And that’s when he felt inspired by her:
It’s not the grand gestures that shape the world.
It’s the little ones.
The things no one sees.
The extra five minutes.
The willingness to show up when it’s not your job.
It really makes a difference.
And that flower bed was proof to him.
We live in a world obsessed with “big.”
Big dreams. Big moments. Big applause.
But so much of what truly matters
comes from the small extras we give
when no one is asking.
The woman’s extra care of the flower bed doesn’t only make the site look better—
it makes someone else’s job easier when they come to maintain it.
It’s a blessing that travels like the face of a compass—
all directions.
It’s the difference that’s made
when someone who notices
and cares enough
to give what they didn’t have to
by taking a couple of minutes each day
to pull what didn’t belong.
And honestly?
That’s the kind of life I want to live.
And the kind of man I’m grateful to love—
is one who notices.
And after he notices?
He almost writes to share what he thought.
But then he stopped and thought,
There are a lot of people who do extra out there.
I don’t want to make them feel defeated.
And that’s someone who cares about others more than his ego.
So I’ll be his voice.
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