The other week, while I was adjusting my seat belt and situating myself in my car for driving on a series of short errands, I looked up at the top of my windshield.

I noticed a sticker, placed there to remind me when to change my oil.

I tried to make sense of the information. Did the mileage on the sticker represent my odometer reading when I got my last oil change or a suggestion on when I should schedule the procedure? I wondered the same thing about the date.

My current mileage was less than the number posted for the next service date, and the return date was so long ago, I had a hard time believing that the car hadn’t been taken in since last February.

As a work-at-homer, I just don’t put many miles on my car. I got the message that I was due to have the oil changed, the fluids topped off, and the tire pressure and air filters checked.

As I studied the clear and white sticker on my car’s glass, I thought about all the simple signs in my daily life that serve as reminders of something I need to do or some information I want to hold in my awareness.

• The living room curtain billowing inward, softly rounded like a pregnant belly, informs me that the window is open and needs to be shut.

• The rush of tiny bubbles up to the top of the plastic liter soda bottle as I make the first rotation of the cap, reminds me to let the container sit before twisting and removing the cap completely if I want to avoid a soaking.

• The doorway flyer I read at my neighborhood library or café announcing a free lecture or performance by someone whose work I value encourages me to check my calendar and make plans for the event, allowing me to savor a pleasure close to home.

• Unexpectedly hearing the date for a new friend’s birthday, prompting me to record the information in my birthday card file and enabling me to brighten their special day.

• I always act on the urge to test a desk pen on a piece of scratch paper before packing it in my purse after recalling how ink failed to flow recently from a pen I grabbed from the same place (and still didn’t throw away).

When I think about it, paying attention to the little things feels like the world is tagged with Post-It Notes. I want to live my life as if I can see colored paper tags EVERYWHERE.

I try to give attention to little things; things I want to enjoy in the moment because they’re beautiful or rare or temporal. I constantly see signs to exercise caution or pay attention to bits of information that might enhance my life.

These little things, these Post-It Notes of life, can hold warnings or opportunities. They inform and enrich so many things.

Fully taking in what I notice around me, from conversations overheard at the bus stop to sale signs posted in a window of a boutique is no small thing.