Coming up with a good idea is only one of the 1,000 little things that makes Nancy Vu happy.
And three years ago, Vu, now a first-year nursing student, came up with an idea.
Vu’s multifaceted creation, called “Just Little Things,” features minimalist colored rectangles containing text describing the little things that make people happy. First manifesting as a blog, Vu’s idea of listing the simple pleasures soon spiraled into online popularity with people from around the world who were reblogging, liking and commenting on the posts she wrote.
“Just Little Things” has now reached up to 1,000 posts, has around half a million followers, and as of May, has been published into a book.
With an interest in journaling and design, Vu decided in her second year of high school to start a blog that combined those two hobbies as well as brought attention to the little things in life that often go unnoticed.
“I would notice that everyone around me would be busy with work or school and wouldn’t really pay attention,” Vu said. “I found that all the little things that don’t seem big, once compiled all together, could make you realize that life really is beautiful and amazing.”
And although Vu initially intended the blog to be a secret side project, its popularity, attaining around 20,000 followers after only three days of being online, proved the task to be more difficult than anticipated.
“When I started the blog I kept my identity anonymous,” Vu said. “I didn’t want people to think she’s a girl, she’s only 15. … I just tried to maximize the people who would follow the blog by keeping my identity a secret.”
Rosemarie Healy, academic dean of Presentation High School, acting as both counselor and mentor to Vu during her four years of high school, soon discovered the blogger’s secret.
“She was sitting in my office and I said, ‘It looks like you have a secret,’ and she started to kind of giggle and said, ‘I kind of do,’” Healy said. “And then she told me about her blog. We looked at it … and I got really excited.”
Healy said after she saw the comments and the number of followers that “Just Little Things” had, she was not at all surprised by its success and transformation into a book.
“The things she wrote are so touching and very realistic,” Healy said. “The people that I’ve bought the book for have just loved it.”
Marian Lizzi, editor in chief of Perigee Bookmarks, first came across some of Vu’s posts when looking through Pinterest boards.
“I would see them crop up and eventually a lightbulb went off and I realized that I had to look into where they were coming from, who was creating them,” Lizzi said.
When the emails from publishing companies about the possibility of turning her blog into a book first began to come, Vu said she remembers exactly her feelings of surprise.
“I couldn’t even imagine. I was sweating buckets – my hands were shaking in front of my laptop,” Vu said. “I’ve always wanted to write my own book. … I didn’t realize that it would come so quick and I would be publishing a book at age 17 or 18.”
Lizzi said she knew that something special was occurring with Vu’s blog when she noticed its wide appeal, with diverse posts that were relatable yet not specific to any set gender, age or lifestyle. What she didn’t know was Vu’s own background.
“It wasn’t until the contracts were being drawn up that Nancy emailed me that ‘I think I should mention to you that I’m in high school,’” Lizzi said. “It was an amazing moment for me. I’ve been an editor for almost 25 years … but I never had anyone say that to me.”
And just as Vu’s editor knew little about her at first, neither did her many followers; yet that fact has not prevented “Just Little Things” from profoundly changing the way that they see the world.
“Even a few days after I was writing the blog, I got really intense messages from fans,” Vu said. “Messages about how my blog has helped them cope with cancer, bullying, broken relationships or even thoughts about suicide.”
Though Vu refers to “Just Little Things” as a simple project, its followers span the globe from Australia to Iran and have created collages, quilts and videos inspired by Vu’s original idea and featured on her “Just Little Things” blog.
And while Vu doesn’t claim to know exactly what each fan gets from “Just Little Things,” she said the blog has had a big impact on her own life as well as others.
“There’s a lot of messages you can get from it,” Vu said. “You are blessed with so many things in life and you maybe just overlook (them) every day, so if you just pay attention you’ll be a happier person.”