I returned home from work on Wednesday, and wondered why the lights were so bright and the lines in my kitchen seemed so wavy. I was just tired enough to wonder what was wrong with the lights… but it wasn’t the lights.
This is called “aura,” and it’s like the special effects you see when you have your eyes dilated by an eye doctor. I can achieve the same effect through the magic of MIGRAINE HEADACHES.
Despite the beginning of a new migraine series (they rarely happen just one day in a row), it’s been a lovely week. It isn’t just all the people congratulating me on my promotion, though that is sweet: it’s all the people just being delightful to interact with.
It’s the scientist I bumped into after leaving a bookshop, who chatted with me on the sidewalk for perhaps 20 minutes; it’s the young person from another team who is always so optimistic; it’s the gal from another company who once had me sample farmer’s market strawberries, and who chats with with me so comfortably that it feels like we’ve always known each other; it’s the gal from a global function who bought espresso with me and was charming even at 6:45 in the morning as we made our way toward our ferry; it’s the shuttle driver I ride with 3 or so times a week, who knows I don’t ride in the evening, yet rolled down his window to try to tempt me with a shuttle ride to the train station (which made me laugh out loud – it’s a free shuttle); it’s the attorney who popped into my office with a question, and then told me she is amazed that I am so consistently PLEASANT and that listening to my voice is like walking into a spa; it’s the workers at the fancy coffee place who know my name, and I know theirs…
Perhaps it was the isolation of 2020-2021’s safety precautions still influencing me, but I appreciate people being casually enjoyable so much. I’ve enjoyed it in the past, but it feels… more special now. Having lost those opportunities for a while, I ensure that I notice and enjoy them now. I will relish them right up to the next pandemic!