Her Favorite Color Was Purple, Too!

So today on the bus...

visual: A chillier morning called for my purple plaid jacket and my dark denim leggings. Yes, denim workout leggings from lululemon and they are awesome. With my bright blue Havianas flip flops and green sunglasses, I await the bus perched high on the green bench at my stop.

I am on my way home today from a radical yoga workshop. I wait for the bus while gabbing away with my amazing Mother on my phone. We are talking about life and communication issues and really getting down deep with eachother. I love when that happens, middle of Saturday morning - just waiting on the bus while Mom and I elevate our lives to greatness. Its good stuff, hell - it is great stuff!

As my bus approaches, we are in the heat of the conversation. "Mom. Mom. Mother! I have to pause you and say hello to my bus driver", I place the phone in my pocket and insert my crisp dollar and shiny quarter into the machine and say hello to my bus driver. I give him a shoulder knock and tell him that people are always so distracted on these cellular phones and that acknowledgement for those getting me home is necessary. He half smiles and shrugs.

I take Mom out of my pocket and allow her to continue as I head to the very back of my somewhat crowded bus. Ever since meeting that gentleman I think created Orbitz.com, I have had this amazing affinity for standing near the double doors and pretending I am surfing down Wilshire Boulevard on the bus. And to think, I have never surfed in the ocean in LA! A surf snob in my own right!

So yes, my Mom is reaching her conclusion of life being simple and beautiful and not to be taken seriously and all of a sudden this little girls starts belting out Ol' McDonald Had A Farm in the middle of the bus. As if we were her American Idol judges and life was her stage! I ask my Mom to listen, and say that is the beauty of life. Singing your heart out on the bus while sitting on your mother's lap on a sunny day and being happy. There it is, Mom. There it is. I can hear my mother smile over the phone and we promise to call one another later. Being best friends with your Mom is such a cool phenomenon - try it!

We hang up and I continue to watch my young singer-t0-be just jumping around. She is literally crawling all over her Mom's lap, smiling and laughing. She had to be four years old, which I really think is the best age. And honestly, the Mom seemed so happy, as well. How could she not be with the company of sunshine she brought along? It really is the mother/daughter loving energy. I can feel it exuding from them.

The bus comes to a stop and people exit the seats next to them. I immediately jump off my bus of a surf board and sit down next to them. I look at the young girl through my big green sunglasses and I thank her for singing to the bus, complimenting her beautiful voice.

She is surprisingly shy and holds on tight to her Mother's leg. They both thank me and smile at one another. The little girl, after a moment of deep thought, inches closer to me and away from the safety lock she had on her Mother. She climbs up into the seat next to me and smiles. She has on these amazing boots with a cute lite blue skirt. I lean in, "I just love those boots. YOU are so fashion forward, you know? And these colors you are wearing, well, you should be in a magazine!".

She screeches with delight and looks to her Mom for approval. Her Mom says she is always best dressed and winks from under her herringbone hat.

Sidenote: I love herringbone and feel that there really should be more of it in the World. I then glance down at my loud plaid jacket and laugh at myself.

Anyways, my new friend comments on the purple plaid jacket and purple backpack I am rocking today. Purple is her favorite color, too! Immediate bond. We then spend some time in education mode talking about what colors make a different color. i.e. Red and Blue make Purple, Yellow and Blue make Green...etc. We high five at the end of the colors game. I then show her some pictures on my Blackberry of the yoga class I went to. Her eyes get wide as she sees the crazy tricks we did (Note: I took a yogaFLIGHT workshop at my store this morning. Think flying in airplane on the bottom of someones feet as a kid - for grown ups in yoga form!).

The pair's stop is one before mine and as they prepare for departure, we introduce eachother to one another. Jasmine and Shandra were their names. I look up to the Mother, shake her hand and let her know they are very special. Jasmine chimes in that she is going to see her Daddy at the hospital. The Veterans' Hospital is right up the block. I remind her to sing for him, because she has a beautiful voice. She is ear to ear with her little teeth and those corn rows. They leave and she flashes me one last smile before hopping off the bus.

It truly is amazing, the innocence of a child that leaves one uplifted and so happy. Jasmine's contagious energy kept me smiling ear to ear the whole rest of the way home. She hadn't a care in the World on the bus today. Just singing and laughing and talking about our favorite colors. I am reminded yet again not to take life too seriously. Just be present and happy right now. Be open and let the peace of a child change your mood, change your day, or change your life.

Jasmine and her Mom probably had no idea that they had touched, moved and inspired me to come sit by them. In that moment, I got to tell them. I immediately let them know how wonderful they were. What if people did that every day? What if I did that every day, every time, every bus ride?

I pull the line for my stop and sigh with gratitude. The bus! It gets me every time if I am open to it! I shuffle to the exit and shoot my bus driver a wave and thank you. He waves back with a smile.

I start walking home and put my iPod in my ears. I find myself singing out loud and clapping my hands on the sidewalk. Look at me, light as a child inside and out.