I was thrift shopping with my husband, something we often do. As we walked in, he went left, and I went right.

My gaze swept over the shelves and was immediately held.

I felt like she called me over. I didn’t make eye contact right away. I looked at everything around her before I allowed my eyes to fall directly on the figure.

Elen.

After I noticed Elen, the next thing I noticed was that she had antlers. Well, she had antler, singular. There was a left antler and then there was the space where the right antler used to be.

I put her down and walked away. As a recovering perfectionist, my first thought was, “Oh, I love her but I can’t buy her because she is broken.”

I walked away. I walked around a little. I felt anxious about leaving here there.

And then I thought, I am also broken.

Maybe Elen was a midlife goddess. Few of us make it to midlife without some ‘battle scars’. Elen lost an antler … but she still has another one. She has her magic wand. She has her clear quartz crystal ball. These are things that matter to her, I thought. These are things that I also have (well, except for the antler). These are things that matter to me.

I made it to the end of the aisle and turned around and decisively picked her up. Elen. Elen had things to teach me, of this I was suddenly quite certain.

I love how we are always learning! I love how, when you think you are just going to poke around in the thrift shop, what actually is happening is something is calling you to it. Listen … what is calling to you? We are always learning and growing when we allow ourselves the space to do so.