Laura Lavigne
  • Home
  • COACHING
    • COACHING PACKAGES
  • THE SCHOOL
  • Blog
  • ART
  • MORE
    • Happiness Retreats >
      • Sacred Joy Gathering 2023
      • La Dolce Vita Happiness Retreat 2019
    • THE HAPPINESS SPRINKLING PROJECT
    • THE CENTER FOR HAPPINESS
    • HAPPINESS SPRINKLING CARDS
    • BOOKS BY LAURA
    • Laura's YouTube Channel
    • Essence Facilitators

Bumps and Tickets and Stuff We Learn

3/4/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Most days, I am in awe of how simple things are over here. How many steps are removed to get to where we need to go. Simplicity being one of my Core Essences, I LOVE that.

Less steps, less talk, less worry, less problemas. We just get it done.

I think of the infamous topes, for instance. Speedbumps, often without warning, usually unpainted, occasionally homemade. pretty much always very efficient. There is a village nearby that spans both sides of the highway. Kids and dogs cross all the time and speeding vehicles would be lethal. So, instead of speed signs or traffic lights, there is a series of oh, possibly 30 topes punctuating the road. There is NO way to speed through the village. Just not possible. Cars, motorcycles and trucks crawl through that stretch of highway, period. Done. Simple, efficient.

Now here is an occasion where just as I recognize the same efficiency of getting-things-done, I find myself a little less enchanted, this morning.

A couple of days ago, I parked my car in a nearby town in order to go buy a few things at the market. I parked my car in front of a nice blue line which to me meant nothing more than hey, they painted the curb blue over here.

I returned an hour later to find a parking ticket on my windshield. Dang. Who knew that blue meant handicapped parking? Well, me now I suppose.

I inspected the piece of paper over and over again and could not find a fee amount nor a way to pay it. But I know better than to leave a ticket unpaid and so asked a few people about it. While strangely enough, no one had an answer, someone asked me if they had taken away my license plate. A quick look at the front of my car gave me relief and I was able to say that no, my license plate was still on.

But later that evening, I looked at the BACK of my car and noticed the glaring absence of BACK license plate. Gone. Two turns of a screwdriver and I suddenly HAD to pay the fee.

I remember that this is how it works here if you get caught taking a wrong turn. I know this because, in my early days of driving, it happened to me three times. Three times, yes. The first time, they took my license plate and I had to go back the next day (I was an hour away from home) and go bail it out. I was baffled at having to drive there without it - not to mention not being able to do it that very day - but nope, that's how it works, That's how you hurry your butt over to pay your fine promptly.

The other two times making a wrong turn (trust me, driving here is not as intuitive as one might think and I am still learning the ropes. Also, no YouTube videos to be found) let's just say that the police officer and I came to a mutually agreeable arrangement right there on the side of the road.

And it is very possible that had I seen the person who gave me the parking ticket, the two of us could also have come to some to a mutually agreeable arrangement on the spot. Easy, simple, and efficient. But I did not and so here I am with a piece of paper that explains very little and a missing license plate that says that I need to fix this right away.

This morning I will drive to the town where I got my ticket, about an hour away, and see what I can learn. My suspicion is that my license plate is tucked into a drawer in the state office, which is another hour away.

In which case, my day will be much less convenient and yet the process will for sure be fully efficient. Simple, too.

Life :)



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    ♥️
    SUBSCRIBE
    TO MY BLOG HERE 

    ♥️

    SCARED OF THE SACRED

    Picture
    Picture

    HAPPINESS SCHOOL:
    90 days to up-level your life in a FOREVER way.


    My Elephant Journal Articles:


    Scared of the Sacred - Texas, Afghanistan and Sea Turtles

    What Happens When We Half A** Our Apologies

    I wasn't Expecting to Lose my Emotional Virginity on Lesvos

    Becoming One With My Backpack, at 53

    Some Days We Have to Mow the Lawn Twice


    The Lesson I Learned from a Moroccan Street Market

    Dear Man Who Says He Wants Intimacy

    How to Not Abandon Ourselves When the Going Gets Rough

    Just Sitting There Doing Nothing: What I Learned From an Italian Balcony
    Picture
    "Every time I read your blog I am so profoundly happy I did.  The truth you speak is just mindboggling.  The real, real voice you have.  It makes me almost crazy how much I love your words and your way of telling stories that cut to the quick- and I never have the words to really say how much this all means to me. 

    You put out so many heartfelt blog pieces that touch my heart and move me down the right path at the right time.  Pure beautiful magic girlie. I love you for this.

    Thank you for digging in there and finding the gems of wisdom and then just sharing them out as if there's an endless supply ... which with you, there is."


    "Thank you for sharing your wonderful, heartbreaking, exhilarating experience with the world."

    "Thank You Laura for sharing, for teaching and spreading loving kindness. "

    "I think I love you. You bring good things into my life, or remind me of things I love and know, but have let go of."

    "Laura, you are so good for me. I laugh and sniffle and get the shivers when I read your essays. Thanks so much for letting all your wonderfulness run around loose."

    "Heart-achingly beautiful, your words and how you reveal your truth."

    "Thank you so much for who you are and what you share with the world. Your mere being transforms lives as it has transformed mine. This particular post did to my heart what water does to parched soil."

    "Thank you for your gentle words that are packed full of wisdom. I have been struggling with the concept of what words can do to another person when they are negative words. Your words are the flip side of our word power, and shows how delightfully powerful kind words can be. Thank you."

    "Once again Laura Lavigne takes you on an adventure of the heart. She has a way of pulling you right in the car with her. Asking you to consider changing a fear to taking thoughtful action. Whether she's teaching a class, leading a retreat or heading for a happiness sprinkling, Laura will invite you to shed old ways of thinking and be completely authentic. Join in!"

    "Essentially pure love.
    I enjoy how Laura is kind to herself and to us other humans who dance in and out of each other's lives. "


    "Don't miss a post!
    You can count on Laura for warmth, humor, charm, and a lift to your day and your heart. She inspires me to be braver than I am, and to love the world out loud. She's a gem, and a generous one at that!"

    Me

    I write because this is the way I am able to  taste life more deeply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • COACHING
    • COACHING PACKAGES
  • THE SCHOOL
  • Blog
  • ART
  • MORE
    • Happiness Retreats >
      • Sacred Joy Gathering 2023
      • La Dolce Vita Happiness Retreat 2019
    • THE HAPPINESS SPRINKLING PROJECT
    • THE CENTER FOR HAPPINESS
    • HAPPINESS SPRINKLING CARDS
    • BOOKS BY LAURA
    • Laura's YouTube Channel
    • Essence Facilitators