It was September 15, 2008, the year of the financial collapse and the US housing market crisis, when I arrived in London England. It was the eve of the London bankers, Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the streets were strangely quiet. The events of September 2008 were reflecting the seismic shifts in my own life. I was in the midst of an incredible transition and the accompanying insecurity of leaving a full-time career teaching art history at MRC. I decided it was time to follow my hearts desire and go on a pilgrimage to experience the European Cathedrals, after talking about them for 7 years in darkened lecture halls. It was like leaping into the abyss, yet having plenty of experience, I knew there was a net for leapers.
This was one of the most magical times of my life, even in the midst of experiencing the mid-life anxiety of traveling on my own, I learned to trust what was unfolding. I learned to look for the signs around me of a higher intelligence and to listen to my intuition. It was this trust that I had learned to cultivate, that gifted me magical and unforgettable moments. I learned from this that the universe loves leapers!
One of those magical moments was when walking through the Eastside of London, I came upon a church, where I rested in a glorious sunlit courtyard. I had taken on an assignment to create a photojournalism project, meeting and interviewing spiritual and church leaders while photographing Gothic cathedral interiors. I just happened to be carrying my little voice recorder with me that day, when suddenly out of nowhere, a woman’s voice called to me: “Hey, if you would like to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury he is in there!”- as she pointed to a reception being held inside a modern glass hall. This was a call for me to step outside my comfort zone, so I got up and went into the hall to see if I could interview him. Well, I did, and he stopped in his tracks with the question I asked him, even giving his wife, who was signalling to him it was time to leave, the sign to wait. That unforgettable moment was filled with a potent, pregnant, and powerful presence of a calling, to write my story. I returned to Canada to start and write a blog, “What about Mary?”
So step into the unknown, as this is where life begins!
Practice this week stepping outside your comfort zone- Name one thing you could (try, ask for, express something, take a big step, etc.) do and reflect on what magic happened because of it?