We all know that the life appears to be moving more quickly than ever. This pace encourages us on a subtle level to expect solutions to problems and important turning points (even enlightenment!) to happen right now – and we can often feel that we’ve somehow missed the important moments in our lives.
I want to tell you about some of the extraordinary experiences my life has brought me that require a longer time-horizon and also some looking back, to actually see the wheels in motion, and the unfolding of the plan.
Twenty years ago I was a single mom with 4 kids working 3 jobs to make ends meet. My days were very repetitive, and my escape was to read New Age magazines. I was reading a particular magazine (that’s since gone defunct) that had the deepest, most interesting articles ever, and one night I was on the phone with my girlfriend, telling her about it.
“If only I could interview every single one of the authors. I have questions for each of them. Their ideas are really challenging and I really wish I could ask them my burning questions.” Her response floored me – and dared me to step up at the same time. “I have a friend who is a TV producer for documentaries. Do you want his phone number?”
I wish I could adequately convey the next moment in words. “Sure,” I said – suddenly feeling wobbly. In my mind, I thought, “what the heck – nothing ventured, nothing gained,” but in reality, I had to force myself to call him. And I did. We met for breakfast and I told him my Idea: (this is the part where I dared myself to dream as big as I could – me, the single mom with 4 kids and no life). I told him that I wanted to have an interview program on the Discovery Channel talking to the best minds in the world on the subject of the intersection between science and spirituality.
The next moment is seared in my memory. He said, “up until now I thought you were interesting and that you had good ideas, but nothing more. But when you said, ‘science and spirituality’ that changed everything. I go to a church with those words in its name, and I want to offer you the opportunity to interview the heads of the world’s religions for a documentary I’m doing.”
Yes. That’s what he said.
An historic conclave called “The Parliament of the World’s Religions” was about to take place in Chicago, and I started out as a producer (with no experience, mind you) and wound up interviewing some of the most important men and women in the world.
And it all started with an idea I had while reading a magazine. The whole story took almost a year to unfold.
Many years later, I was remarried but had just lost my job. I spent a year trying to find employment, and it was a tough time for my new husband and me. Of course, I spent a lot of time on the computer during my job search, and when I needed a break, I’d click over to Amazon to dream about the books I wanted to buy.
One day, when I clicked over for my little break, I noticed that Amazon was offering a credit card. After you spent X-amount of dollars on purchases, they would send you a gift card for $25. As you can probably imagine, we were living more on credit during this time, so I again thought, “what the heck – I have to use a credit card anyway, why not get a free book or two out of it?”
Eventually, I did receive that gift card, and I dashed to the computer and queued up my Amazon Wish List to hurry up and buy something – that card was burning a hole in my pocket! But when the page came up, and I looked over the books I’d chosen, none of them seemed interesting anymore. You have to understand, this was the first time in almost a year that I was getting to spend money on myself, and I wanted the most bang for my buck. I was frantic! I needed to spend that money immediately (it seemed) so I clicked on one of the titles I had previously chosen. My plan was to follow the links around and hopefully find something that grabbed my attention.
After clicking and reading for a bit, I came upon a book that DID grab my attention. I’d never heard of the author, and had never heard of the book, but it was #2 on Amazon, and it had a spiritual-type message. The book was, “The Disappearance of the Universe” by Gary Renard.
When that book arrived, I went outside with a cool drink and started to read…and I couldn’t put it down. This book was exactly what I needed to read with a message I was perfectly ready to hear. I finished it, took a deep breath, and started reading it over again, and again and again.
I figured that Mr. Renard was probably doing a book tour or something, so I Googled his name. I found a very rudimentary website, and on it I found that he would be doing a 2-day workshop in Indianapolis the next month!! I called the number provided. It turned out to be the cell phone of the pastor of the church where he would be speaking. We had a great conversation, and she mentioned that Mr. Renard’s workshop would be videotaped. I asked her, “will anyone be interviewing him for that DVD?” Why no, she hadn’t even thought of that, and would I like to do it?
Seriously.
I drove the 4 ½ hours to Indianapolis. The pastor, Yvonne, arranged for me to stay with a woman named Resta who recorded inspired ‘music of Christ’ and was a member of the church. I stayed in her home. With my own room. Resta was a good friend of the videographer, so we all met for dinner the first night and hatched our plan. The next day I had breakfast with the author, we completed our interview that afternoon, and the next day was the workshop – which I got to be Producer for, because well, I was there.
The timeline for this story was also about a year. But it continues, still.
Gary Renard became a much sought-after speaker since that time, and has published more books and traveled around the world many times bringing the message of “The Disappearance of the Universe.”
Yesterday, I emailed Gary and asked him if he remembered me and the circumstance of our meeting. We had met very early in his new life as a presenter of these ideas, and he has been on the road almost non-stop since that weekend in 2004.
But yes, he did remember me. He said he’d be happy to do an interview as soon as he returns from a three week trip across the pond where he will be giving yet more workshops. He even told me to say “HI” to Yvonne!
Has the story come full circle? Maybe – maybe not. So far it has spanned 6 years. I’m doing what I love because of seeds I planted long ago.
The New Normal is the Old Normal. Take the long view of your life. If you can’t make anything happen today, allow that to be. Interact with people in a kind way, and don’t be afraid to show them who you are. Nothing could be more laughable than a single mother on foodstamps imagining she hosted a program on the Discovery Channel. Get your ideas out of your imagination and speak their crazy truth.
You really don’t know who is listening!
