Perceptions, Good luck with the new week--5/24/21, Cheering You On.

Perception. A few weeks ago, my perception of something was upsetting me. Then I noticed a neighbor reacting to the same situation but was at peace with it. The more I thought of it, the more I kept coming back to her zen. So now, while I’m doing what I can and the situation is still not ideal, witnessing the way she was handling it had me stepping back, reassessing, and birthing my current way of being (somewhat) at peace with it— which is, for me, much healthier than continuing to add kindling to the upset. 

 

And then recently, I had another situation that I found upsetting and I took action from that place of upset. Until observations had me seeing what was influencing the actions I was finding upsetting.  Processing this new information, I decided to change course and see what actions, that felt more kind and helpful for all parties, I could commit to. So, I’m working on it. 

 

Good luck with the growing this week. Good luck with your perceptions.  Good luck with consciously contributing to your inner peace as opposed to unconsciously continuing to contribute to your upset. Good luck with how you meet with all the opportunities to love, be compassionate, be kind or forgive that shows up.  Good luck with your thoughts, words, and actions towards yourself and others.  Good luck.  Cheering. You. On.

 

 

Seen at the Subway Station Flatbush Brooklyn

Initially, the man had approached the subway station service booth. 

With the five layers of bulletproof glass between them, he spoke to the MTA agent while she stood behind the microphone inside.  He was an older gentleman, pleasant and respectful in manner, and the musicality in his speech indicated he spoke at least one other language in addition to English.  It appeared he needed to purchase a fare card and it was his first time ever doing so.  But since he would be using a credit card and since the booth agents only took cash, she directed him to the vending machines where he could make the purchase.

He walked over to a machine and at some point, engaged the assistance of a woman who happened to be standing nearby.  I turned my attention back to the ebook on my phone.

The next time I noticed him, he was back at the booth, trailing behind the woman he’d been speaking with at the vending machine. It appeared she had been unable to help him and decided to approach the MTA agent on his behalf.

Exiting through the booth’s double-locked steel door, the agent walked them to the closet fare card vending machine, explaining on the way that MTA agents stationed in the booths were actually supposed to remain in or near their booths. Once they arrived at the machine, she began asking a series of questions to guide them through the prompts.

At first, the interaction went like this: the agent asked questions, the man answered, the woman reached for the screen to input the info, the agent stops her saying, “‘No, he has to do it.’”  A few seconds later, again, agent asks questions, waits for man to answer, man answers, woman reaches for the screen to input the info, agent stops her with, “‘No, he has to do it.’” Around the third time this happened, they all started laughing at the woman’s impulse to help, herself included. Finally, the man, patiently guided by the agent, goes through all the prompts and purchases a card.  They thank the agent as she makes her way back to the booth, and the other woman leaves. 

With fare card in hand, he makes his way to the waist-high turnstile leading to the subway platform but then changes his mind, and heads back to the booth. He's in the middle of expressing his thanks again when, suddenly, she comes back out and starts telling him what he needs to do when the card is used up. A few sentences in, she stops and leads him back to the machine, this time to walk him through how to refill the card.

She was wonderful.

Even a subway station preacher, who had taken a break from his sermon, had watched the entire exchange and expressed to her his appreciation of her kindness and patience. 

I was beaming behind my face mask. I appreciated that she made the exception to leave her booth and walk him through the first purchase.  Then, she insisted that he execute the actions while she read out the prompts on the screen (true, he had been nodding as she read the prompts but having him physically go through the process meant a better chance of his connecting to what was on the screen and retaining the information).  She could have stopped there.  But 1) she opened herself up more to his situation and followed her own intuition as to what might be of additional assistance to him, and 2) cared enough to take him back to the machine and walk him through how to refill the card for the future.

I am so grateful for people who take the time to teach others how to do something. And I am so grateful for people who are kind and patient in the manner they administer assistance. And I am over the moon grateful for people who, if and when they are able, go a step further with the help that they provide. 

It was lovely to bear witness to, and so I share.

 

(Info about bulletproof glass and double-locked steel doors found in The New York Times article titled, “Subway Booths Have Gone Quiet. Time for Agents to Step Out?” by Jim Dwyer, Dec.28, 2017.)

Welcome to a new week. 5/17/21. Cheering You On

Hello folks :) Depending on where you are in the world, the baton signaling a new week has either been firmly placed into your hand or it’s enroute.  Here’s to a new week filled with brand new individually wrapped days, possibly gifting old lessons dressed up in new threads, potentially birthing new experiences healing old ideas. You may encounter pop quizzes, or celebrate new triumphs, soak up quiet joys, or seesaw between waking up and falling asleep.  I hope the love in your heart expands.  I hope your inner journeying manifests outer healing.  And I hope you’re patient and compassionate with yourself as you navigate next steps. Good luck. With everything. Cheering. You. On.

Remaining in Your Own Authentic Rhythm, Poem by Victoria Erickson

May you steadily recognize, and from there consciously inhabit, honor and value your own rhythm more and more. Cheering. You. On. 

Cheering. You. On.

 

Love as a way of Being Present

 

A reminder

 

Happy Mother's Day, May 2021

 

Cat on a mission in Brooklyn

It was mid-afternoon when across the street, the white and grey stray cat, slowly canvassed the sidewalk in front of a neighbor’s home. 

Emboldened by the lack of human activity, but not so arrogant as to throw caution to the wind, tentatively, the cat began making its way up the five blue and red brick steps. 

Every step up was followed by a pause.  But with every pause, came more and more confidence. And by the time the cat had arrived at its destination, what had started as tentatively, had morphed into stealth mode.  

And impending victory.

You see, the cat was now at the perfect height to reach the top of the metal trash can to the right of the house; a trash can filled to the brim with several, individually tied, white plastic trash bags. Had Christmas come early for the cat? Would its stealth be rewarded? Stretching its neck, the cat leaned over, its head disappearing to investigate the contents of the trash can. At that exact moment, a pedestrian began making his way up the sidewalk that ran across the front of the house.  Immediately, the cat vaulted off the stairs, barely landed, before sprinting towards, and then vanishing behind, the right-hand side of the house.

Welcome to a New Week, 5/3/21, Wishing You Conscious Co-Creation of Solutions or Connecting with Healing