do you let yourself sparkle?
from the front or the back?
Taking up two spaces in a coffee shop is pretty rude, I must say.
But I didn’t care.
I wanted the option to sit at a low table when I needed to feel comfy, and I also desired to stand and stretch my lower back when I get deep into my writings, so I dared to take up more space than I usually do during peak hours of operation.
Just as I was getting comfortable in my cozy corner inside of borrowed space, a middle-aged lady with a burgundy pixie cut tapped me on the back while asking if I was sitting at the table.
I smiled instantly.
Of course I’d manifested this.
I replied that I was, but that she was more than welcome to take over the table so long as she didn’t mind me joining her when I needed to sit.
She laughed and assured me she didn’t as she arranged her tray full of coffee and cakes. It was clear to me that she would be having a second person join her soon.
Within seconds of our brief exchange ending, she turned around and said, “Has anyone told you you’re beautiful today?”
“Excuse me?”, I replied as a part of me hadn’t heard her clearly and another part of me heard her clear as crystal.
“You are absolutely gorgeous!”
She leaned into and upleveled her compliment a few notches, much to my surprise.
Truth is, no, I hadn’t had anyone tell me I was beautiful today, not even myself. And no one has called me gorgeous, in that charming British accent, since the last time my ex did. I didn’t know it’d be the last time for a while I’d hear the compliment, much less receive a gaze of admiration.
At least not directly, and to my knowledge.
I smiled, thanked her, and I went on with my writing session, enjoying the buzz of the cafe in the background and occasionally interrupting my prose to exchange DMs with my coach about an ongoing conversation we’ve been having.
After a few minutes, I noticed the woman, now joined with a younger lady I perceived as potentially her daughter, gathering their things to leave. As she adjusted her purse, getting the strap perfectly positioned cross-body style and resting on her plentiful chest, she turned to me before walking out the door and said,
“You sparkle. Don’t sit back. Don’t sparkle from the back. Come forward!”
with love, trust, and devotion to my path,
Ashley
