Have you ever happened on a new perspective while wandering along a familiar path?
It happened for me on Sunday.
Having parked my car, I was headed up the sidewalk to what my kid would have referred to – once upon a time – as the fix hay, known to most of us as the hair salon.
It was a Spring-y sort of day and there were people sitting at picnic tables in front of restaurants along the way.
I immediately noticed a little girl, about 18 months old, in a brightly colored dress, with about a zillion tiny braids in her hair that reminded me of a reverse print of a dandelion in seed.
Then I noticed the woman with her who might have been either Mom or Grammy. I smiled and nodded and then I waved at the baby.
What happened next amazed me, in that nothing happened next.
They both stared at me for a long moment.
Then, the wee one began to look quizzically at her own hand while her grown friend stared at her.
As quite the baby-waving expert, I was perplexed. This did not feel like what usually happens when I wave at babies.
Just then, the woman asked if she might speak with me a moment.
When I assured her her that I was listening, she said, with tears on her cheeks, that she didn’t think anyone had ever waved at the baby before!
And then, as she wiped her eyes, she explained that the baby had been born during Covid and was not well. She was only just beginning to be out and about with her. Then she asked me why I had waved at her.
As I explained gently that it was my own personal plan for peace on Earth, the little one waved back, tentatively, with the palm of her hand toward herself, as babies do, early in their waving careers.
I waved again and, by then, we were all waving.
My new friend asked me about my waving plan.
My theory is that it makes us less other, which just about has to be good for the world.
The next question was, Can anybody join?
When I told her that, of course, if she wanted to be in, she already was, the wee one, having figured out how to wave toward me, burst into giggles.
By the time I headed on down the sidewalk to my appointment, there were tears on my cheeks, too.
And a stunning awareness of how much waving there is to be done in the peculiar context of this moment! Just like my Legendary friend in the painting!
ps… the if you want to be, you already are waving bit totally applies to you, too!
pps… just in case your path for good in the world has parts more complicated than waving, and you could use some help along the way, let’s talk! 30 minutes, on me!
ppps… Daphne has more tank tops! And lots of other cool stuff!