Our old dog has recently begun to prefer outings over walks. He and I go to a field or a park, and he sniffs around, eats a little grass, does some rolling, does his business, does some more rolling, and then just hangs out, enjoying being outside. It’s good for him, but kind of static for me, waiting there at the other end of the leash, so the other day, I got a fresh poop bag and started picking up trash. Lots of cigarette butts. That little bit of park looked a lot better after he and had been there that day.
It can be annoying to feel that you have to clean up someone else’s mess, and if I thought too hard about it, I could be pretty upset by my fellow humans who so cavalierly squish out their cigarettes in the nice grass of a public park, but not the other day. Doing a bit of tidying helped me out – the dog got a longer, more satisfying outing because I wasn’t bored and antsy – and it was even kind of meditative.
There are so many little ways we can make things better. It doesn’t have to be the grandest gesture or affect the most people or command the attention of the whole wide world or tire us out and work us to the bone. Sometimes all it takes to make a positive shift is to walk into the room smiling.
Scintillating and frabjous queer femme marvels, today take a moment to know that you have made a difference in the world. You have made a difference by being just exactly who you are with the ideas that you have and the abilities you express.
You have made things better.
Every Monday, I offer a Meditation for Queer Femmes, in the spirit of my maternal grandmother, Mimi, who was fabulous, and from whom I inherited her Meditations for Women.
At the Total Femme, my intention is to post three times a week: Meditations for Queer Femmes on Monday, Pingy-Dingy Wednesday on Wednesday and Femme Friday on Friday. Rather than play catch-up in a stressful fashion on those weeks when life prevents posting, I have decided to just move gaily forward: if I miss a Monday, the next post will be on Wednesday, and so on. Thank you, little bottle of antibiotics for inspiring me in this! (“…if it’s almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule. Don’t take a double dose to make up for a missed one.”) As recover from treatment for breast cancer, however, I’m just going to post whenever I can manage.
The Total Femme 