Perfect Moment Monday: Perfect

Perfect Moment Monday is sponsored by Weebles Wobblog and is described as "...noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between." I think it's a great way to make us all more mindful of the good things that happen to us. There's always at least one perfect moment...!

I had just walked 13 blocks south and what felt like a million blocks crosstown. It was a chilly night in June, n even tho I yearned for some socks, I welcomed the cold; a sweet respite from the debilitating heat of the past week. I stood in line at a busy Starbucks. "I should've asked to use the restroom at one of those hundred fancy restaurants I passed by on 5th avenue," I thought to myself. But if the old man in front of me could be patient, so could I. It was finally my turn. The bathroom was hot n heavy w the smell of too many users n not enough ventilation. I hung my purse, did my business. I looked up from washing my hands and caught a glimpse of myself.

The wheals of my most recent hives episode had faded significantly. Just this morning I swear I looked like an alien. My left eye had lost most of its puffiness. My hair hung down in 1, 2, 3, 4... 5 messy clumps, dreaded at the ends, almost impossible to untangle after spending a few days w no washing or brushing (curly hair was not made for brushing). A light grey cardigan thrown over my salmon colored tank, my bra straps showing, silver necklaces dangling from my neck, one of them backwards. My make-up scarse. My hair so light, a recent change from my brunetteness, that I looked like a stranger to myself.

But my eyes were... clear. I can't remember the last time I looked in the mirror n was literally struck by their clarity. I moved back n kept my eyes on my pupils, noticing the different shape they took. Was that a play on my eyes made by the less-than-stellar quality of the mirror itself? Or do my pupils really take the shape of black squares sometimes? I moved forwards again and stared. Still.

I knew there was a line of ppl waiting outside but I didn't want to leave. I may as well have been standing there naked, no enhancements on my face, natural as anything, kama khlakanee rabbee*. In that moment, I was beautiful, but it was more than that; I had been beautiful before. In that moment, there was a solid calm where there hadn't been any for days and weeks. In that moment, I was at peace.

*As my God created me in Arabic