Mirrors

I've been struck many times during this last year by how much having coffee or lunch with someone changes my perspective.  Makes me see my life and myself differently, almost as if I am looking into a different mirror each time.
 
Today, my perspective was actually adjusted several times. Having lunch with a former co-worker (and actually in the cafeteria we used to go to when we were working) was a reminder that I have a great history, that spurts of work are actually a good thing, that I am not the only one still trying to find what I'm looking for. And that there are a whole bunch of people whom I owe check-in emails!  It was a mirror with a reflection that looked far better than I'd expected.  A reflection of a person doing okay.
 
Later, at Hebrew School dropoff, I ended up with another friend, one who is newly out of work.  As I listened to her talk, I saw in the mirror the rawness that I felt almost a year ago. Though I was eager for new experiences, I was shaken and off-balance not being able to go to work each day.  I couldn't quite figure out who I was without my job, and I couldn't quite figure out how to structure my newly empty days.  And as I talked to this friend today, it was like putting a time-turning mirror in front of me. Reminding me how I looked all those months ago.  Reminding me that, while things may not be how I planned, I'm still here.  And I will survive.  And perhaps I'll help other people survive.
 
And then another woman joined us, a woman who has embraced a freelance life in order to do what she enjoys and still have time with her kids.  She says yes to some things, no to others.  She makes choices about how she lives as a freelancing creative arts mom.  And perhaps she is the mirror of what is to come for me.  Making peace with freelancing.  Allowing myself to put family first when it matters and work first when it makes sense.  Appreciating how things used to be, but appreciating now for the good things my "now life" gives me--seeing children come off the bus, making dinner (okay, not that well sometimes, but still), spending time in my apartment with bare feet on a carpeted floor warmed by the afternoon sun.
 
I've never been one to spend much time looking in real mirrors--too many other things to do--but I'm glad I got to borrow a few mirrors from friends today.  A little glance goes a long way.