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Thursday, April 10, 2003 There is a woman I sometimes run into when I go to the plaza cafetería down the street from here for a cup of a.m. espresso. Late 20's, maybe 5'3", 5'4", slender. Works in a stylish clothing store around the corner from the plaza, dresses in the hybrid style that, when done right, is a smooth combo of high fashion and punk/new wave, a look many women here go for to varying degrees. Clothes often dark, though not necessarily black, almost always with skirt instead of pants. High-heeled boots of the stiletto variety, often with fishnet stockings or something reminiscent of that look. Thick black hair cut mid-length, styled so that it goes in all directions. Heavy make-up, including so much base that it's unsubtly visible. Pretty in her own eccentric way. She usually comes in to pick up one or two glasses of café, maybe a cup of tea, carries them back to the store. Returns with the empties sometime later, picks up another round. Sometimes we pass on the street, sometimes we see each other in the cafetería -- she never looked at me or acknowledged me, her expression held carefully blank, until I held the cafetería door open for her one day. Since then she's softened up some, sometimes says a nice hello. In fact, lately her manner in general seems to have softened up considerably, leading to moments when she will suddenly smile nicely, so that her energy, her bearing seems to change drastically. Her eyes soften, something genuinely pretty (and the tiniest bit shy) shines out. And this is the point: with that simple change of expression, she is transformed from someone cool, opaque, distant, to someone radiating a quality that is something to see. A smile can do amazing things, yes, but more than that we each carry within ourselves such contrasts, and such power to withhold or to radiate a bit of the luminosity that is a part of us all. And whichever it is we do in any given moment can affect the world around us in ways we may never know. An obvious observation, I know, and perhaps a trite one. I mention it because I marvel at the difference small details like a smile can make in the course of a day. Each of us is a universe, unbelievably deep and complex, with aspects of deceptively startling beauty that can shine out at a moment's notice. Let ‘em shine. Right, I'll stop now. Be well. rws 12:13 PM [+]
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