Little Shifts & Kisses

The other day one of our really regular customers came into the store. She had not been in for awhile so we chitchatted for a bit, getting caught up on what's new. She had such a wonderfully positive outlook on everything that it was infectious. I found that, after she left, I felt a little differently about things in general. A little shift had taken place. I love experiences like that. Some simple thing, an overheard part of a conversation, a photograph that catches your eye, or as in this case a conversation with a friend, creates a momentary shift in your experience of `reality'.

Like everyone, I have had many, many experiences of these little shifts in my life. Now when they come I like to acknowledge them to myself, honor them, and give thanks for them.

The very first one I can remember happened to me when I was in kindergarten. We were outside, sitting on the curb waiting for something. I don't remember what, but my guess is we were going on some field trip. Seated next to me was a little girl; I'm pretty sure her name was Brenda. Without any fore warning, or any announcement, she simply just leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. And my reality shifted.

Oh, I had been kissed before - by my mother, my father, my grandparents, and more aunts than I cared to remember. But up to that moment everyone who had ever kissed me were two to three times my height. They were all BIG people. But now, all of a sudden, here was someone MY size kissing me. It had never dawned on me that that was possible, or allowed. Up until that moment it simply was not part of my reality. I was completely dumbfounded. Nor was it the last time I have been dumbfounded by a woman, but that's for another article.

So relish those moments of little shifts, acknowledge and honor them, for they usually come softly, unbidden. Like a gentle kiss on the cheek.

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