An imaginative visit to Waffle House

In this week's Substack article, The First Church of Waffle House, an after hours breakfast dive is a place to go just to be yourself.

Enjoy a little reverie in a different atmosphere of the imagination.

Thank you to subscribers!

For workshops and retreats.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hi, this is Jill Bdansky, and this is Amuse's Daydream. And this episode is to accompany an article I wrote for Substack called The Church of Waffle House. Link is in the notes. To find a seat. Not the perfect one, not the one with the best light or the best angle or the version of you that has it all together. Just a seat that looks comfortable. You can see the lights in the window because it's at night. And you might want to smell something that doesn't make you too hungry, but it just reminds you that breakfast is nourishing at any time of the day. Maybe the place that you take a seat is a booth or a chair or the edge of your own day. Let your hands rest like they're on a nice little break from having to get or fix or do anything. Take a breath in and out. There's a low hum around you. The quiet chatter of a world that keeps going. Let it be there, no need to shut it off. Imagine you've walked in in that in-between hour around 2 a.m. The hour doesn't ask for credentials. Notice what's here. The murmur of conversation that don't need you, but somehow include you. Take another breath. Inhale like you've just been handed a warm hug. Exhale knowing there's comfort in small things. Look around gently. There are people here. Versions of people, maybe parts of you. The one who keeps going no matter what. The one who knows when it's time to get off at the next exit and rest. The one who says things they later regret, but then forgive themselves for being human. Just let them be. Notice if your best self walks in. The one who expects so much, who has done already so much in your life, in your day, and your week. The one who knows exactly what you should be doing and not doing. She sits down instead of standing over you. And she softens. She lets you be in the light of a warm breakfast place without expectations. And is pretty happy with who you are just the way you are. And if that's hard for you to imagine, just turn the belief system up to one instead of ten. Take a breath. Exhale and relax a little bit more. You are allowed to just be someone sitting here. If a thought comes in, something unfinished, something sharp, something tender, just place it on the table. Maybe there's something you've been carrying that is ready to loosen, even just a little. What would that feel like? It's not gone, it's just less tight. Let your shoulders drop. Let your jaw unclench. Your belly loosen. Let your breath move effortlessly. And if a quiet question rises, let it be simple. What do I need to know right now if nobody is judging the answer? If you hear an answer, just listen to it. Stay with that, no rush. In this place, the coffee or whatever you like to drink refills itself regularly. And so do you. So just decide what you'd like to take from this experience. It can be anything. You can take it in a doggy bag. And when you're ready, begin to come back. Not as a new person, not as a fixed version. Just as someone who sat for a moment in a place where yellow is predominant and didn't leave themselves. And take one more breath in and out. Somehow change.