Last night, I had the extreme pleasure of seeing my favorite writer, Anne Lamott, give a talk in Santa Barbara.  Since she is also a political activist, one of the things she talked about was how we can all deal with the frustration we are experiencing based on the daily atrocities of the current administration.  Her recommendation is, in order to make oneself feel better, go out and help other people.  A progressive liberal, she cares deeply about the marginalized – the poor, the homeless, the elderly – so she has lots of ideas for ways to help them.

This morning, I had to get up early and go have some routine fasting blood work done.  At Quest Diagnostics, they no longer have a receptionist, but a touch screen check-in system.  When I made my appointment, I received a confirmation code, which I had jotted down on my calendar.  This morning, I took a photo of it with my phone, just in case I needed it.  I used it to check in, and the process for me took less than 10 seconds.  There was an elderly woman who had come in the same time that I did, and she was confused by the touch screen, so I offered to help her.  We entered in her name, birthdate and phone number to get her squared away and checked in.  It was so easy to help another person and she was so very appreciative, it made me feel good.

I had already decided that I was going to be grumpy this morning because, well, morning – not to mention the fact that I could not have my morning cup of earl grey tea or any breakfast and I was hungry.  I had thrown sweat pants and a sweat shirt over my jammies and sort of brushed my teeth and maybe brushed my hair, so that I could pull off the cranky in a more believable way.  Instead, after helping Helena check in, I had this feeling of euphoria.  We sat next to each other and chatted as a crowd of people entered just as we sat down.  “Wow!  We really beat the rush,” one of us said.  Actually, I had been a half hour early for my 8:30 appointment because I was starving, and I just didn’t trust myself to stay home and not eat, so I thought I would get there early and sit and read the book I bought last night.   Turns out I didn’t have to sit there for more than a few minutes before I was taken back.  The woman who took my blood was so quick and painless – there was absolutely nothing for me to complain about.  I could only praise her professionalism and ouch less technique and wish her a wonderful day as I left.

After Anne’s talk last night, she did a book signing.  I had wanted to bring my favorite book of hers, Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, for her to sign – especially since it is dogged-eared and highlighted from cover to cover.  A kind of fledgling badge of writing honor.  But of course I had forgotten it, so I decided to buy another one of her many titles.  She was there promoting her latest one, Hallelujah Anyway, Rediscovering Mercy, which she talked about.  I was drawn to another title, Small Victories, mostly because I always think in such broad terms and huge projects and end up hating myself for not being able to pull them off.  I had the intuitive hit that the lesson for me, right now, is to focus in on the small little victories that I run across in my everyday life.

As I sit and think back about my morning – I realize – we are all in this together.  So, we might as well help each other out along the way.  And it doesn’t have to be big things.  Just small, little ways to make another person’s life a little less stressful, something to make someone smile and feel acknowledged as they slog through their personal struggles.  A small victory.