The waiter's eyes match my bright one piece. All in blue, a turquoise child wandering in between Spanish lessons for some food. But I can't stop, the love of learning has me sitting here like a book worm, sifting through my books, and remembering the lessons Senora Tchir drilled into our adolescent brains for three years. Wish I had taken everything more seriously then, and less seriously now. The space here is expansive, egg-shell white and warm. It beckons you to stay for hours. To order expensive things off the menu just so you can stay a while longer, and embrace the genuine smiles from the staff that work here, and the chefs that have visible access to their customers. I love the art painted on the wall, the green baby cactus on my table, all of it. They must have known Dorrina was a lover of aesthetics. Anything that resembles a home makes me sink further into the cushion. (Did I mention this place has cushions?) Their motto here is different than most businesses. Besides the fact that they pride themselves on being all organic, vegan, etc.) The sha-bang bang is really in their core values and ethics. It has less to do with the poshy new age movement of eating healthy (although that is important obviously) and more to do with serving and eating and sharing with love. I've noticed that the staff here are well taken care of, and have a genuinely warm and engaging disposition. They actually care about us, and you can feel it. So after my order, my waiter whose name is Dave graciously takes back the menu and asks me, "Today's question is: What is perfect about your life?" With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving me there to ponder the question until my food arrives. What is perfect about my life? What a loaded question! I was quite affected by it, and partly because of the way he worded it. He asked slowly, consciously, with awareness. And so naturally, I responded in the same light. I was touched by his respect in giving me the space to answer this question for myself. I would have been happy to share it with him, but then it dawned on me that my answer was completely reflective of this new found/enjoyed sense of my own company. What is perfect about my life? I wanted to answer after pondering: Me. Not in an arrogant, I'm such hot shit kind of way. But in a deeply humbling, deeply appreciative way. I am grateful for myself. For being able to witness such a creature, with all these shifting emotions and vibrations, to witness and experience this body, this mind, this heart... I am the perfection about my life. With all these imperfections, to witness as a pair of other eyes, the courage and resilience and devotion that I possess. I love myself so completely, that my eyes well with tears because... this is so new. In the suffering and the dying, in the rebirth of ashes of destruction, each birth brings new light to deeper love. When I was younger, I wanted and needed so badly to be loved and recognized by someone else, and it brought me such immense suffering. I feel so fortunate to be able to experience this love, this relationship with myself. It is in and of itself, the most precious gift, and that is so perfect about life. So thank you, Cafe Gratitude, for being such a perfect part of today. I rejoice in it all. Your vegan risotto was painfully hard to swallow, but y'all know how to make a meaaaaan smoothie <3 thank you. |
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
July 2022
|