Family legend holds that, when I was just over a year old, I was in a store with my mom when I experienced – shall we say – a bit of a diaper disfunction.
Mom took the obvious action and headed for the door, wanting to get out of a perceived horrifying situation.
I, on the other hand, early language junkie that I was, screamed, “I wanna shop!” the whole way to the parking lot.
And, yes, I’ve had some more practice shopping along the way!
Between my orthopedic challenges and the whole pandemic thing, I’ve gotten pretty proficient at the push buttons-wait for packages model of procurement, despite my growing questions about the whole bigger picture behind some such enterprises.
This week, that plan kind of fell apart.
You see, I need chairs. Two of them.
And not just any chairs will do!
I have limited space and a whole lot of things to accomplish. Comfort and function are tied for first place. Which is not a bad place to start.
So, flexible chairs for tea and coaching clients of the talking sort. Also the drawing and painting sort.
Sturdy. Resistant to dog hair and drool. Easy to re-arrange. You get the drift. I even made a list!
And I hunted online. A lot. With very little progress. Frankly, I was getting pretty tired when Grandmother Moon volunteered some guidance.
So, yesterday, I climbed out of bed full of the radical notion that I needed whole-person shopping and that was going to require actual in-person shopping!
My options were limited, for back and shoulder reasons, to places that did not involve the big road. Read that, a favorite neighborhood wonderland! And so I set out with my walking stick and fav sneakers and my magic denim vest/purse complete with a measuring tape, the requisite political buttons and my fabulous new bizness cards!
The Inner Critic hitched a ride!
Wrong color! Too much money! There’s only one! Too square!
You’ve probably had similar conversations along the way…
Blessedly, the Inner Critic, who means well but is terribly afraid of trying new things, was distracted by a booth full of old books, and I welcomed the Muse into the adventure.
She tends way more in the direction of What did you learn?
Over the next hour, my responses included: Too low! Too squishy! Too hard to get out of! Too itchy! And, to make our Inner Critic team member feel valued, lots of Wrong color!
Frankly, I felt a whole lot like Snow White, in the place where nothing was just right!
And I was learning a lot!
So, exhausted, but fairly pleased with myself, we headed home with a particular chair calling to me from virtual land.
The Legendary Husband, who tries to be a bridge between the Muse and the Inner Critic, suggested maybe – just maybe – ordering only one and trying it out.
It wasn’t the craziest idea I’ve ever heard!
So, we wait. (It’s on the way!)
The Inner Critic has agreed to take a couple of days off, given the fact that I did such a good job with the measuring tape!
The Muse just winks at me, with that little half-grin which implies we’ve got this.
I hope so! At the very least, we’ve avoided a whole lot of things that wouldn’t have worked which is a lot like using my SuperPowers for good!
And, just in case you have things on your list, like being and doing and mattering, and could use some help along the way…
(My Inner Critic will keep yours entertained while you actually do a new thing!)
ps… happy birthday, Mom. We miss you!
pps… in honor of my girls and their graduating adventures, a special deal on my favorite mug… which is a decidedly SuperPower kind of thing! Just click here and the elves will automatically adjust the price in your basket!
ppps… the lovely lady in the painting, who sees in several ways, is a glimpse of the Muse!