Hey rockstars,

It is Friday evening in this nation’s capital and I am typing this while at work (hmmm, 8:10pm). I think I’m the only person left in the office because everyone else went home or to their Friday night glamorous plans. My plans include going home to my apartment, picking up my dress and makeup for a bridal shower tomorrow, then going home to my parents’ house, eating their food, and then resuming work. In a way, that’s glamorous? Right?

Today was a relatively “easy” day at work, as easy as it can be these days anyway. I actually made it to work at a decent hour (aka before 10am), and I entered to my sweet friend Nydia saying, “there she is!” because yesterday I worked from home and I didn’t get to see her! I remember thinking “what a warm way to start the day”

Because I was attending a meeting on my phone I couldn’t stop to chat or even get a coffee, because I had to be ready to unmute to answer questions on a case where I’ve somehow managed to become important. Not that important, but semi-important.

And I was even sadder when Nydia sent an email to the entire DC office that there is free breakfast. She then even sweetly messaged me on Teams to say “Come get some breakfast.” When I said: “I can’t, I’m in a meeting” she said “I’ll fix you a plate.”

And Nydia, despite her pain and busy schedule, and the fact that she is what keeps the entire DC office from crashing down, came over less than 5 minutes later to knock on my door and give me two croissant sandwiches, a blackberry pastry, and a whole plate of fruit.

Those of you who have been here a while, know that the key to my gratitude and everlasting undeniable love, is plates of food. Especially plates of fruit.

Sabiha made a joke a few weeks ago that the only time I eat fruit is if someone cuts it up for me. I think she was calling me a princess… but hey?! Cut apple slices? A giant Pyrex box of of berries and grapes when I get picked up from the airport?

I’ve said it a million times before and I’ll say it again: I am constantly in awe and in full gratitude of the amount of love in my life. I about teared up when Nydia handed me a full plate of food to me.

And if that wasn’t a sweet enough moment in the morning, then in the afternoon I was in yet another meeting when I got an email from Nydia about free lunch! (We don’t normally have this much free food in the office, it was only because we were hosting several clients and had depositions).

And once again, I couldn’t leave my desk to get food. And this time, my sweet friend Anna, who is such an idol to me and is so hardworking and such a badass and yet doesn’t lose a single shred of her empathy, kindness, and grounded nature as she leads a team on a difficult case, came and dropped off two sandwiches for me, a beautiful cherry blossom doughnut, and chocolate for dessert.

Seriously guys. How cool is the world? It’s filled with these moments of pure joy and pure kindness. Nydia and Anna had no incentive or anything to gain from giving me food when I was hungry besides the fact that they are incredibly kind people, and I have the honor of being cared for by them.

There are big things happening. I know.

But somewhere right now, someone taught their kid how to ride a bike. Someone planted tomatoes in a backyard that will feed their family all summer. Someone got a text that said, “I’m proud of you,” and reread it three times.

The loud stuff travels fast. The good stuff travels quietly. But it’s still everywhere.

And maybe that’s because humanity is complicated. We are capable of harm. And also incredible tenderness.

The same world that produces chaos also produces sunrises. And bread. and dogs that lose their minds when you walk through the door. The headlines don’t get to own the entire story.

That counts. It counts more than we think. -@thetinyjoyproject

And the world is hard, and the world is complicated, and people can be mean, rude, stressed, and misguided. But every day I get to experience the tenderness of the world, from my friends, from my loved ones, from my family, is a good one.

And now I get to go to my apartment and give my roommate a big hug before wishing her a happy weekend, and then I get to go home and hug my family and continue to be surrounded by people who inspire me.

I hope everyone reading this has/had a great day today. I hope you know that there are people rooting for you, that you have people in your corner, that even in the worst of days, there are moments of tenderness and small gestures of love. And if nothing else, I hope you can give a small gesture of love for someone else.

Until next time!

xo

Sandhya

Celebrate my 31st year around the sun with me! Click the follow or subscribe button to stay updated! You can also connect with me on twitter, my coffee and checkins Instagram, my podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or Amazon Music. Have a topic suggestion? Email me at coffeeandcheckins@gmail.com! I’d love to hear from you!🙂❤