We sat on cold metal chairs, shivering as the light bravely tried to break through the clouds, the wind whipping our hair and rendering our coats and scarves completely useless.
It was 6:30 a.m. and we were in line for timed passes to the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. There were already 50 people ahead of us. We would be in line for the next four hours.
In the afternoon, we waited in yet another long line for the buzzy Filipino restaurant, Bad Saint. By the time we got to the front of the line, the only tables remaining were for the 10 p.m. seating, four and a half hours later. We had to go back the next day. We were there two hours before the restaurant opened, ensuring that we were part of the first seating.
It sounds like a cautionary travel tale, how lack of planning led to too much time wasted in lines, how this could all have been avoided if I had done a little more research before going to Washington.
And yet, and yet, and yet…
There was a feeling that we were in the right place at the right time, of things falling into place exactly as they were meant to be.
Waiting in line allowed us to hear interesting stories all around us—the New Yorker who tried for weeks to get timed passes online but couldn’t and ended up lining up with us anyway, the Jewish mom who was there for her family of boys, the group of five and their travels around Europe. Arriving at 6:30 a.m. gave us time to read, to talk (something we haven’t had time for in the rush to see as much sights as we could) and be grateful to the museum employee who advised us to go earlier instead of at 9 a.m. which another employee had told us. It allowed space for a gyro eaten on a bench in the bright sunlight, the clouds making way for a beautiful day.
The seat we had at Bad Saint was right in front of the bartender where we marveled at the way she made the cocktails infused with ingredients such as lambanog and where we could see Americans polishing off their plates of adobo and sisig. We met one of the Filipino owners who took time to chat with us about their plans for the restaurant, despite her obvious busyness. We were treated to a special mix of Filipino hospitality and American service by our server.
And that Yayoi Kusama exhibit, that exhibit, was pure magic and worth every minute of the cold and long wait.
So if you’re feeling like you’re in a waiting game for your life, if you’re feeling that life could have turned out better if you had planned more, done more, been more, if you’re feeling impatient for results, I want to let you know that you are exactly where you need to be—and that if you look at where you are in your life, you can still find joy, serendipity and yes, even magic.
This is the note I sent to my e-newsletter subscribers this month. If you want to receive a monthly Joyful Little Note and a copy of Your Heart-Crafted Life workbook, then subscribe to my newsletter below.
