I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop;

yet here I am happy.

I had tea with a magnificent old friend, a former coworker, who said she has never seen me happier when describing work.

Every day I am caught in a whirlpool of hundreds of people, some tourists, many staff (we do have over six hundred), and they all have kind eyes and open hearts. Souls with beautifully unique stories, all studying such diverse passions yet all yearning for the same happiness.

And they're all so genuine.  You know if they're happy, you know if they're upset, and when they ask how I'm settling in, they really do care to hear my response.

And I get to help them. I've always said I love this role because I can go up to anyone and say "what's wrong and how can I help?"
Whether it's a broken device or a broken heart, I can be there. For strangers or people who've helped me hold down the fort.  I get to help.

And this is what I want; that's the kind of world I want and how I want to change it.
I was raised in its anthesis; a state of constant oppression, of internal and external judgement, where my unemployed role model treated everyone like she could do their jobs better than them.  For whatever reason, we were better, the paradox included.

And I remember the first time I realized how beautiful the world is when you offer it your own kindness.
And I secretly grew my belief in the beauty of the world, like a lotus flower flourishing in the bleakest of environments.

Small glimpses, stolen moments of testing my theory that the world can be a kind place.  One such moment was at a tea house with a friend in New York. I escaped he oppressor for an hour or two, and the friend took me there.
It was haven where you're sprinkled with fairy dust and told to make a wish, where flowers make your meal and love radiates from every cup, every saucer, every dish.
It was an escape, and an answer that a greater world did exist.

And today, seven years into the world of my own peaceful vision, I returned.
And it was amazing. I befriended the servers as I waited on my friend, and by the time she arrived she assumed we'd known each other already. Inside jokes, happy smiles, discussing art....knowing too, that they were working and I was helping them get through their shifts.

At one point a multi-tasking server dropped a bowl of berries. When we went to grab a brook, I picked up the dish, and when he was sweeping his manager came over to evaluate the situation. When he saw I'd picked up the bowl he joking asked if it was my fault and I immediately owned up to it with a contrived tale and everything. I whispered "I gotchu" to the server and he laughed.

When we went to leave, the manager had discounted our bill, referencing our earlier inside jokes and insisting I come there to work. The server also came over and handed us a bag of scones to try.
Some kindness for ours.

And the experience didn't need those things of course. I only mention them to because they are a clear example of putting good into the world and it coming back to meet you.
I don't know about big goals and cosmic changes; but on the micro level, it's as simple as: if you smile at someone, they'll probably smile back.

And if your pour a bowl of fairy dust on my head, I'll do anything I can to make your day a little easier.

(Above is said friend from today's tea)