The importance of ordinary things

In the painting, a red bicycle leans against the worn brown wall of an old building.
The wall has graffiti sprayed on it: Not street art, no, just undecipherable graffiti.
There are no people in this hyper-realistic painting, no animals.
Just a bicycle to suggest that, somewhere, the rider could be nearby.
I saw this large painting at an exhibition in the Anquin's Gallery in Reus, Spain and it immediately struck me that artist Carlos Diaz was on to something.
Later, when I had the opportunity to talk to him about his work, he said he felt strongly that it is important to capture the importance of ordinary scenes; of ordinary things.
I wish more writers felt that way and included more ordinary things in their novels.
I wish I did.
The reason: It is upon those ordinary scenes, those ordinary things, that great stories are built.
Take this painting - one of several Diaz had on exhibit that night - as an example.
On the surface, this scene is dead ordinary.
But let your mind wander, just a bit; let your imagination flow.
Is, for example, the bicycle a signal? Was it parked against this wall for a reason? If you write spy novels, perhaps it's a signal that the person you are supposed to meet is waiting for you. Is the color of the bicycle significant? Does a red bicycle mean the meeting is called off?
If you write mysteries, you might wonder where the owner of the bicycle is and why he left it leaning against the wall of this old building. The building has graffiti on its walls indicating that this is not a high class neighborhood so why did he leave it leaning against a wall where it could easily be stolen?
And if you write another kind of novel, just maybe the bicycle was ridden to this old building by someone who - born to wealth - has had that money and power stripped away so that now his only means of transportation to a low-paying job is his bike.
Or perhaps he's a young man with a good brain and burning ambition who will one day make a vast fortune?
Or...
Well, you get the picture: This is an ordinary scene with ordinary things that allows us the opportunity to use our imaginations.
And when we, as writers, do that we craft better stories; ones that ring true with readers who see these ordinary scenes and ordinary things every day. They do not live in the rarefied atmosphere of heroic fiction. No, our readers live at street level where the sidewalks have cracks, the streets have potholes, and bored people armed with spray cans vandalize other people's homes and businesses.
As writers, we should pay attention to that fact and help readers relate to our characters and our narratives by recognizing the importance of ordinary scenes.
Of ordinary things.

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