A distinction without a difference… worth thinking about. We spend a lot of time getting whipped up about which color of white paint is perfect, or whether the chicken recipe with the sumac or the lemon zest is better, or which of the latest iPhones has superior features. Does it even matter? This isn’t to say distinctions can’t make a difference- just that many don’t.
Pay attention. Don’t fret endlessly over things that are trivial. Better to botch a bunch of bagatelles than to miss the mark on one really important thing. Remember Seneca’s warning about the Shortness of Life. Fretting over “fluff” is probably a regrettable decision.
I never read the word “bagatelle” without thinking of my mother-in-law. She’s the only person I’ve ever known who actually spoke this word, and for her, many of the things that could put others (moi?) into orbit, to her were simply bagatelles. And while I’m tripping down memory lane, here’s another trifle. The dessert kind. The layered English dessert- with sponge, custard, garishly colored jams etc. always seemed like a mistake to me. I grew up eating my grandmother’s Tipsy Cake. I think the Brits call it Tipsy Parson, but we called it Tipsy Cake. And tipsy it was! Lady fingers, boiled custard, slivered almonds, whipped cream and oh so much sherry. No nasty cooking sherry- the good stuff.
A whimsical word, a boozy dessert and fond memories… anything but trifling.