Small Mercies

A couple of (sensible) and noteworthy incidents happened today. I almost felt like myself again.

1. I had an epiphany, that some people deserve their choices. They really, really do. And therefore, I deserve my twisted, terrible choices too. But that also means I can choose to put them behind me and make better ones.

2. Had breakfast at a French crêperie today. It was a washed morning. Saw a good looking guy on a table across me, sifting through his phone and having his breakfast when it arrived. He wasn’t drop dead gorgeous (the owner of the crêperie is) but he was simple, noticeable, and quite simply handsome. I noticed him. He noticed me. I can’t remember the last time I “noticed” a boy. There should be another Shazam, but for faces.

3. A regular reader from Pakistan is in correspondence with me. I replied to his email of 5 days ago when I finally cleaned my mailbox because 100 unread messages were starting to now glare at me. He’s a man of 65 and he gave me a compliment that I may not deserve, but it felt so humbling all the same. He said that I am blessed with the ink which when casted into words becomes Mariam (Mother Mary, for the uninitiated). It is a reference from a story of that age. It is tremendously humbling and reminds me of what I am really here to do on this Earth.

The day hasn’t been a gala to run to the press about, but one is grateful for small mercies. One really is.