A Full Table
My last post went up about a month ago, a testament to how quickly time is passing over here and how busy life seems to get. In it I wrote about my experiences traveling solo, from dining alone at restaurants to seeing different cities sans travel partners and friends.
Tonight I write from a different place. I arrived back in London last Tuesday after a trip to Ireland, and just a week later I found myself sitting at table brimming with new faces. To my right sat my new business partner, Stephanie, who I met just a week prior through another random encounter with a lovely couple at a dinner party. To my left sat Helen, a British friend who I met in New York City last summer and bonded with over an intense game of volleyball at a music fest a few days later. Across the table was Bruce, a friend of Stephanie’s and a man who was kind enough to open his home and industry advice as we brainstormed our new plan this weekend. Next to him sat Sophie, Anne and David, the family of friend and NYC singer-songwriter Will Knox who have generously taken me in for the duration of my UK/London tour.
On stage were three familiar faces… Caleb, Bess and Alex. I can tell you that as much as I love being over here, seeing Caleb walk through the door of a London Starbucks to come grab us before the gig was one of the highlights of my trip.
There are moments in life when you stop for a moment and think about where you are. Who you are with. What random acts and serendipitous events have brought you to that moment. I rarely dine alone anymore. I find myself excited each morning with what new things may come my way. I look forward to working because I’m working towards something now. I feel like the pieces of me that were scrambled all over New York City for the years after my dance studio closed are starting to reassemble and form “me” again. The “me” I remember. The “me” I want to be.
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for that full table.
15In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
—Albert Schweitzer
Love.
Today’s post is dedicated to love. The love that my family and friends, both new and old, have showered me with in the past month that I was away. If it were not for your love, I may never have found the path that I will be heading down when I return home.
26 days ago I was completely lost. I came to Costa Rica in a state of quiet desperation, hoping that some miracle would find it’s way to me and give me all the answers. And it did. It came in many different forms.
Some mornings it arrived on my iPod on my long journey up to work. Some days it appeared in my inbox in an e-mail from someone who took the time to write me while I was away. Some nights it popped up on my cell phone as a “thinking of you” text.
In other ways it came in the form of tough love. When I considered the idea of uprooting my entire life to start fresh, I was guided by the voices of both strangers and close friends to reconsider my choice. For the first time in awhile, I listened to those voices.
Now I sit on the horizon of an exciting new adventure, one that will change my life and the lives of those I will help when THEY are feeling lost. The Universe has been good to me… She shook me up a bit but then dropped me exactly where I needed to be. I am so excited, so thankful, and so anxious to begin.
I return home to NYC in 10 days, and I can’t wait to give my love right back to the people who have shared it with me along the way.
Until then, know I carry every single one of you with me everywhere I go.
