When I was seventeen, I wanted nothing more than to find adventure in the wide world. Decades later, I know that
if I visited my younger self and told her: You will live around the world, Japan, Hawaii and Slovakia will be among the places you will call home. You will dine in Paris, run the streets of Dublin, ride the train through the white nights of Siberia. You will have amazing opportunities presented to you--some you will choose and some you will not, but you will always be OK with your choices. I know at seventeen I would have said--I am going to have the best life ever! I can't wait to live it!
But I don't always feel that I have the best life ever, in fact there was a period when I felt that my life was a challenge. I was allowing frustrations to effect the quality of my life.
But fortunately, I am a Librarian with the means, information, and wherewithal to solve my problems. Everyday I work with with some who don't have these key elements in their lives. Because of this, I do not take my own good fortune for granted. I looked deep inside and decided I need to do more things that my seventeen-year-old self would approve of. This means that I need to actively seek adventure. Fortunately for me, I have a fairly low threshold for what qualifies as an adventure. Adventure after all is a mindset to be open to possibilities and then to act when a possibility presents itself. Adventure doesn't involve expensive equipment or huge cash reserves, just a willingness to see the world through a lenses of childlike awe and fun.
Today, I was busy in the morning but at 3:00 PM, I found myself at home stewing in the summer heatwave because I promised Edison, I would be a good citizen and wouldn't use my AC when they asked me not to. Laying on the sofa, I opened a new book that caught my eye at the library earlier this week: The Mood Guide to Fabric and Fashion.
I read the forward, found that the store is in New York and made famous through Project Runway. Alas, it is in New York--I mentally add it to my New-York-Places-To-Visit List--I keep running lists for most major cities and several minor ones. But then, what there is one in Los Angeles, too? Where is it? On La Brea? I checked Google Maps--only about 10 miles and an hour away. Why not? By the time, I get back home in the evening--my commitment to Edison will be complete and I can turn the AC on.
An hour later, I walk through doors of Mood and am instantly delighted. The colors and textures...the long full bolts of potential that greet me. What fun. Soon, I am greeted by an employee and ask if I can take photos. Yes, of course you can. Great. I spend some time wandering around--down the silk aisle, up the denim and over to the leather. I am not a seamstress but that does not stop me from coveting and admiring fabric. I have a great appreciate for the artistry of textiles.
Over at the buttons, I strike up a conversation with a customer holding a bolt of exquisite fabric. I ask her what she plans to do with it.
--Oh, I'm going to make scarf.
--That will make a beautiful scarf, will you sew it?
--This piece of fabric around my neck, I'm going to cut in half, sew it up the middle and then hem it.
--Hmm.. (wistfully) I don't really sew.
--You don't have to, you can fringe the edges.
--This one that I'm holding, it would go so well with your eyes, it is perfect for you. Look it is on sale, you should get some.
As she transfers the bolt from her arms into mine, I decide that in fact, I will get some.
I continue to take photos of the buttons. I have always been fascinated by buttons. When I was a child, periodically I would get Mom's coffee-can-of-buttons down to marvel her collection--big, small, colorful, unique--my mind's eye sees the entire array, my fingers nimbly sort through them. Eventually, I move on holding my newly acquired bolt. Almost immediately Shirley comes over to assist me select the right shade of blue thread to go with my fabric. I recognize the the smooth syrup of a Southern accent and find out that Shirley is from Louisiana. Shirley is an elegant lady filled with natural Southern hospitality, I feel fortunate to be in her care. When I tell Shirley I am in Mood today because of a book and that I would really like to meet Oscar--the store's Chihuahua mascot, she immediately takes me over to a sofa and chair where Oscar is holding court with the store manager, Raul Vergara.
I sit down and chat with Raul and hear Oscar's story. Raul adopted Oscar 8 years ago when Oscar was 2 years old. Before Oscar, Raul had Henry for a great long while. After Henry passed on, it was a long time before Raul felt he was ready another dog. Being busy, Raul didn't have time to make the shelter rounds, so one day, he asked an employee to get a dog for him. And that is how Raul and Oscar's fates intertwined eight years ago so that mine intertwined with theirs today.
Eventually, I pay for my purchases and leave the shop feeling that my experience met all the requirements for a good adventure: meeting new people, seeing new things, and hearing a new story. Thanks Mood for uplifting mine today. I really and truly do have the best life ever.