If I weren’t me who would I be?
…a barista, maybe. a barista who smelled like milk and sugar and coffee at the end of the day. who thought of herself as a therapist that costs $1.50 an hour as opposed to $150. who studied the students. the tutors. the writers. the suited and booted on-the-goers. the artists. the mentors. the loners. the first dates. the break ups. the “quick” catch ups that turn into hours. if I weren’t me I’d be a barista who understood the entire range of emotions that can be experienced over a cup of a coffee.
…a professor, maybe. someone who was self-assured in every way; in the knowledge they possessed, in their posture, in the way they wore their hair, and in the way they pronounced your name. someone who warranted respect the moment they walked in the room and someone who understood that there is no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher.
…a librarian, maybe. a librarian who lived alone in a two bedroom apartment with cute decor and books and plants littered everywhere. single as ever because she loved every character she read about so deeply, there was no love left to give to a human being.
…a wedding photographer. a photographer who captures one of the most monumental days for a couple. someone who gets to enjoy a piece of the wedding cake and gets paid for it. someone who is probably one of the most important person at the venue for the couple and yet also the most overlooked and insignificant person for the wedding guests
… a physicist. a physicist who unlike most people, didn’t have a hard time internalizing uncertainty. someone who could explain the world around them with logic and math because all things with matter and energy have to abide by the laws of physics. purely logical, not emotional. and finally, someone who wasn’t so bad with directions and understood where to go when told, “head northwest, and turn south”
Originally published at http://citylightsandslowsongs.wordpress.com on November 25, 2019.
