#WooWoo Wednesdays: She’s in My Head!

Photo by Ahmed Aqtai from Pexels

Yup, I know hashtags are overdone. But after my #TheTeaTalksTuesdays post, I couldn’t resist #WooWooWednesdays. After all, it seems like a perfect hashtag for The Land of Woo. So, what’s the purpose of #WooWooWednesdays? It’s to share ways the Woo is showing up in my real life, like…

  • Those coincidences that are just too coincidental
  • That health change that’s a little too good to be true
  • That mind shift that puts everything into perspective

It’s also a way to make sure these Woo Woo incidents aren’t slipping by, unnoticed. It’s to help me pay attention, so I can notice and celebrate the way the Woo is showing up in my life.

This week’s #WooWooWednesdays happened on Tuesday. I was shopping and stopped by this fancy little “epicurean boutique” — their description, not mine — to get some hot tea. See, I live in Napa and Downtown Napa is going through a revitalization. I try to shop, eat and drink in Downtown as much as possible. After all, I want my downtown to be successful.

While this epicurean boutique is adorable, filled with fancy vinegars, olive oils and mustards, it plays horrible dance music that is just Way. Too. Loud. I stopped by once this summer and had an awful time communicating with the barista. The music drowned out his voice. I could barely order my iced tea.

On Tuesday, I figured I’d give this little boutique another shot. There was a different barista behind the coffee bar, and when I walked in, it happened to be the silent moment in between songs.

That quickly changed. The second I started to ask the barista about their selection of teas, the music started blaring again. Yet again, this barista’s voice was drowned out, and I had trouble hearing and ordering.

“Why can’t they just turn down this stupid music?” I pleaded silently in my head. And I also vowed to never, ever shop in this store again.

Then, the Woo stepped in.

The barista looked up at me.

“I can’t stand this music,” she said. “It gives me a headache listening to it all day.”

I was stunned. She was picking up on the conversation I was having in my head!

“Do you have any control over it?” I asked. “Can you turn it down?”

It was just the two of us in the store. She looked up at me, stepped out from behind the bar, walked into a back room and turned off the music. She then walked back to the coffee bar, looked at me in triumph, and we stood there in blissful silence, with smiles on our faces, as my tea steeped.

I think I’ll have to rethink my vow to never return to that store.

#TheTeaTalks

I’ve had a sore throat this week so I’ve been drinking a lot of tea. I mean a lot. So much that I’ve started looking forward to the words of wisdom printed on the labels of my tea bags.

Now, not all of these words of wisdom are winners — like how not all fortune cookie fortunes are winners (or even actually fortunes). But some of these words of wisdom feel like they are being sent from the universe.

In honor of this tea bag wisdom, I’m starting #TheTeaTalks — beginning with this gem I received today.

Let things come to you

It could not be more timely, reflecting the message of “Clearing,” the poem I posted yesterday. For me, this will be a year of non-striving (more on that later). Rather than forcing my exploration  of The Land the Woo or holding onto expectations of where it will take me, I want to keep an open and curious mind.

In 2020, I need to strive less so I can learn more.

Making My Own Space

My mediation teacher read this poem to us a couple weeks ago, and it left me speechless. It was as if poet Martha Postlewaite was in my head, reading my mind.

The poem, “Clearing,” was exactly what I needed to hear when I needed to hear it. It may be my mantra for 2020.

Image of the woods showing a green grass clearing in the middle of tall trees.

Clearing

Do not try to save

the whole world

or do anything grandiose.

Instead, create

a clearing

in the dense forest

of your life

and wait there

patiently,

until the song

that is your life

falls into your own cupped hands

and you recognize and greet it.

Only then will you know

how to give yourself

to this world

so worthy of rescue.