Two of my favorite mental snapshots today while in Target:
#1: Walking past an aisle, I saw its lone occupant, a lady, possibly late 40ties to mid 50ties, dancing to the song being played through the store’s sound system. I didn’t recognize the song—but it felt like something from another era. And while her back was mostly to me as she swayed to the beat, gently moving her shoulders and arms, I did catch a glimpse of a smile coupled with a soft expression.
I don’t know if she would have continued dancing if we’d made eye contact. In that moment, she gave off the energy of someone comfortable in her skin, so, I like to think that she would, but I could also see her not dancing if someone else had already been in the aisle. Truth is, I’ll never know.
What I do know is I loved that she was dancing and that I got to see her doing so. The only other people I’ve ever truly seen dancing to music being played in stores are the little kids (3, 4, 5, 6-year-olds). And, as was the case with this lady in Target, I’ve often watched them and thought, “I love how present and committed to this moment you are. I love that you hear the music and you feel like dancing and you’re doing it. And I love how you've made me a little present, too.”
#2:
Sometime later, making my way through another part of the store, I watched a
smiling, energetic, little brown-skinned girl, maybe 3 or 4 years old, swinging
a plastic orange Halloween pumpkin pail by its handle, run/ walk towards an
aisle, and stop at a particular section. Her female guardian, who had been
following behind, also stopped, parked their shopping cart off to the side of
the aisle’s entrance, then watched the little girl with a smile of her own and
an expression that spoke to me of love.