Kindnessgirl

I have discovered that the first hour of being at the laundromat is fun, after that, it’s a toss up. It’s fun to load like 8 washers, get a zillion quarters out of the machine, and give the kids rides in the baskets but after awhile it can get a little hot and boring.

Except, of course, if there are strangers around. Who knew that girl loved funky thongs? And can you imagine only having to do like 2 loads a week? She just said #7 is the best dryer- note to self…

…but by the time it’s time to fold ALL 8 loads (at the same time) , everyone is cranky and ready to go home.

Today was different though. It was quiet and Lucy inherited some old dora magnetic/paper dolls sort of things from Kira and this seemed to keep her occupied for hours which gave me time to clean out my bag/purse. I came across this paper given to me by my friend Gina just the day before. It was an affirmation.

It says: It is going to be OKAY! …Actually, it’s going to be GREAT!

This affirmation was a result of a heady doula conversation about my birth. When doulas or birth enthusiasts have babies, their minds can travel so many more places because of all they know and have seen.

We were deep into my evaluation of optimal fetal positioning, a previous posterior presentation and how this would all affect my labor. I decided to throw in my projection of of this baby’s personality and how that will make it more interesting…in plain language- I was needlessly obsessing. Pregnant women are experts at this.

“Patience, you are over thinking this, you need an affirmation.” Gina said. She was so right.

“Awww, I’m too smart for affirmations right now.” I replied. What? Too smart? Did that just actually come out of my mouth? I meant I can psyche myself out of them too easily but come on! My heart was resisting.

Never mind that that the bulk of my work is writing blessings, holding space for affirmations to become true, promising to hold hope if others cannot or aren’t ready to…I underestimated the power of truth written on a tiny paper. I wasn’t sure it could be the same for me but luckily this time, I have Gina. She is my kindness girl.

I sat on the hard seat at the laundromat, I stared at the paper, it’s was working on my soul already. By the end of drying I decided this could be the best affirmation I had ever received. So simple but with lots of intention and hope. I want to kiss it! It was too good to hide in my own heart and mind, it had to be shared.

So I pulled out scrap papers out of my bag. I wrote the little phrase on the back of receipts and doodle papers. I hid them all over the laundromat while Lucy put our left over quarters in various machines.

You just never know when you’ll need an extra 5 minutes of time in the dryer for the towels that are still wet and the laundromat is the perfect place to discover that it will be okay, actually it’s going to be GREAT!