Ups and Downs

I did not see that coming.

That’s what we say, to others or to ourselves, when the shit hits the fan, when life unexpectedly slaps us upside the head. But it works both ways, doesn’t it? Maybe whatever it was we didn’t see coming was a good surprise.

Like this morning, walking out of the Barre3 studio at 7:15. (That’s right, I took the 6:15 class. Uh huh, 6:15 in the morning.) So there I am exiting the downtown studio, already consumed with “to-do” thoughts, busy working out a schedule in my head, when I am slammed by what I would best describe as a Wall of Fragrance. Jasmine? Lily? Something so overwhelmingly, deliciously, perfumy that it stops me in my tracks. (It’s the enormous baskets of pink and white petunias hanging from the lamp posts. The ones I hadn’t even noticed before.)

I smile at the unexpected pleasure of it and move on… only to be stopped in my tracks, a few steps later, by another aromatic blast, this one coming from Noisette, the French bakery two doors down. It’s that baguettes-just-came-out-of-the-oven smell. You know the one. The one that gets the saliva spurting in the mouths of even the most committed of the gluten-free. And I smile.

I did not see that coming.

It’s good to remember that, amid the surprises we’d rather not experience – flat tires, sugar ants on the counter, adult acne, domestic infidelity — are the little pleasurable ones, the ones that sneak up on us, the ones we might ignore – or take for granted — because we are forging ahead, intent on checking off items on the list.

Oh god, please know this is not some vapid “take time to stop and smell the roses (petunias, baguettes)” message. It’s really about how it’s good to remember that there is a daily up and down rhythm to life. To be disappointed and then elated, weary and then energized, pissed off at the world and then all hakuna matata…that is what life is about, right? We’re restless, then content; disillusioned then hopeful; self-doubting, self-confident; snarky, saintly.

All these ups and downs stretch us in important ways. The daily rollercoaster promotes empathy, keeps us alert, keeps us learning and, I think, keeps us resilient. It’s a good thing. Or that’s just how I’m feeling at the moment. Hakuna matata.