The WORD Vibe

As you can tell, I am a fan of words; specifically the "written word". It runs in my family. My grandfather used to send my father letters in blue inland covers (yes, life before the internet...I know its hard to fathom) and he would have these one line phrases that my Dad would narrate to me on various occasions 'coz they served as nuggets of wisdom without the heavy lifting. My grandfather would send me letters too when I had crossed a major milestone like passing 10th grade, graduating college etc. I remember one letter vividly where he said "If money is lost, nothing is lost; if health is lost, something is lost but if character is lost, everything is lost". I may have been 11 or 12 but it stuck with me and it has taken me thru some pretty rough times.

My Dad writes to me every once in a while, now via email when he has something important to say. Subtle but significant is his style. My uncles would send me money orders when I achieved excellence and in it would be a couple lines/notes cheering me or wishing me success.  I grew up treasuring the words more than the gifts. Which is why I am a big sucker for cards and God knows Archies and Hallmark have made more money out of me than most stores in India.

Anyway, the gist of the matter is that I have now developed an obsessive tendency for words. Every thought, every situation, every feeling, every person, every encounter can usually be defined in ONE word/phrase; I strongly believe in this. Even when it can't be, you have a word for it - ambiguous, gray, abstract, complicated, transitional and so on.

So, the other day as I was cleaning up my hOuse after my parents left for India (having inhabited my natural habitat for over 2 months), I was picking up a vibe. I tried to give it A WORD...one that would explain the sweet nostalgia mixed with impregnable hope, immortal memories and serene tranquility. I may be biased but I've lived in a few houses in my short lifetime. And I've always felt happiness, sadness, despair and anxiety but never this clean, pure joy and still serenity. So I was obsessed to find my word that would describe that vibe, only to realize that if it didn't come to you, it just didn't come to you.

I lit up the aroma dispenser, opened the window so I could hear my wind chimes in the patio and arranged the fresh cut flowers in my blown glass vase. NOTHING...I eventually gave up. The next day, my cleaning lady came to clean the house. She went about her chores the usual way stopping and inquiring about my parents, complimenting the new pictures on the wall and adoring my aroma dispenser. She is a Spanish lady and her English is very patchy/shaky. We make do with my erratic Spanish and her half decent English.

Anyway, as she finished up her work and was about to leave, I paid her, gave her a hug and said 'muchas gracias". She said "De nada" as always and she also said pointing to a family photo hanging on the wall "Small home but beautiful...I go lot of houses but this home is special". Well, she's always sweet that way so I smiled and said " I think so too, thank you". To my surprise she continued..."It got HARMONY" and then she left.

I was speechless. There's my word. She gave me my WORD - HARMONY. Life gives you little surprises where you least expect them and shifts something inside of you. Juanita did that for me. She picked up a vibe that I always felt and she gave it a WORD. Something I could hold on to. And I've been reeling in that sense of euphoria ever since.

So long....