At that moment, my avocado toast arrived, snapping me out of my reverie. There were little flowers on the plate. Tyler would always lament that his avocado toast never came with flowers, but mine did.
I looked up to see Julian, the barista at my favorite local Medellin coffee shop, handing me my food.
"Gracias, Julian. Eso es delicioso."
"Con gusto, Nikki." He gave me a big smile.
"Me voy de Colombia mañana." I am leaving Colombia tomorrow.
Julian began speaking in rapid Spanish, which I didn't understand. When I first arrived in Colombia, I knew no Spanish besides 'hola.' A few months later, I knew enough to get around and interact. At one point, I could hold a decent basic conversation. However, as soon as I stopped focusing on daily, methodical practice, it all deteriorated rapidly. Damn entropy.
Julian gestured to my phone, which was open on Google translate. He wrote me a message.
He was right. How wise. Was I not the luckiest person in the world? Born into a life and a time when I had the opportunity for this much freedom?
I had to choose this lifestyle. I did. I worked hard, and I took risks. It didn't just fall out of the sky and into my lap.
But I was also born into circumstances where I could actually believe this level of opportunity was possible. My life was full of hope and optimism. It must look completely different from Julian's perspective. He brings flowers to a wandering Australian girl because he knows they make her smile. Meanwhile, he can't even fathom traveling the world on his salary.
What a privileged life I lead.
I screenshotted his message and added it to my notes. Maybe one day I'll share Julian's insight with the world, I thought. Maybe there's something we all can learn from the joyful attitude of this Colombian barista.
A flurry of neurons fired in my brain, alerting me of a new connection. I flipped backward through my notes and came across a passage from Conversations With God.
Your soul doesn’t care what you do for a living — and when your life is over, neither will you. Your soul cares only about what you’re being while you’re doing whatever you’re doing.
It is a state of beingness the soul is after, not a state of doingness.
What is the soul seeking to be?
Me.
You.
Yes, Me. Your soul is Me, and it knows it. What it is doing, is trying to experience that. And what it is remembering is that the best way to have this experience is by not doing anything. There is nothing to do but to be.
Be what?
Whatever you want to be. Happy. Sad. Weak. Strong. Joyful. Vengeful. Insightful. Blind. Good. Bad. Male. Female. You name it. I mean that literally. You name it.
Neale Donald Walsch
So while Julian was doing his job, he was being joyful. He was being laughter, and kindness, and thoughtfulness. If there was one thing I learned from Colombians, it was how to live in the moment with a smile on your face.
