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Los Angeles, CA: I keep a folder in my mail program called "Hart & Soul." (For the record, I did not misspell hart -- it's actually the last name of my former-shrink-turned-gal-pal.) When I receive emails that inspire me / lift me / move me, I file them away in their little storage space on my computer and dig into them when I need a little pick me up.
Besides emails from A.Hart herself, some of my e-inspiration comes from a friend and spiritual mentor in Nashville, who I refer to as cs3 (me, being cs1, naturally). While I was looking for a little inspiration over the weekend. I found the following email from her written March 2008:
Ask God for a breakthrough, specifically,
then look for it intentionally.
What can it hurt?
Four years later, I reflected on this as I headed to a nearby coffeehouse in my hood, or as I like to refer to it as -- Fido West. I sat down to caffeinate and blog and sent a subconscious prayer that this moment have meaning. It didn't have to be the end-all-be-all, but let this day be something more than just another day at another coffee shop. Or maybe let me meet the man of my dreams. Whatevs - I'm not that picky.
A while later, engrossed in scanning Facebook updates (so much for being productive), I overhead a conversation behind me.
"You look familiar," one woman's voice said. "Are you an actress?" (usually always in LA....)
"I am, actually" another woman's voice replied (usually naturally in LA...). "But you might not know me from that. I go to a church nearby -- maybe it's from there?"
An actress who goes to church? My interest was piqued.
It turns out they did recognize each other from that church. Woman #2 -- the actress -- had been trying out different churches. And in the midst of working in entertainment, she also worked at a non-profit, which gave even more meaning to her life.
Um, excuse me, semi-carbon-copy of me? I wanted to turn around and meet my doppelgänger but didn't want to be completely obvious that I was listening to their entire conversation.
She said she had jut gotten back from the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, where she had sold some products from her non-profit. I had heard of this conference just recently because I'm pretty sure Thistle Farms had been there too. Since I still handle their social media, even while away from home, I went to their Facebook page to confirm their participation there.
Yep - I was right. I had posted a pic of Rita and Penny from the event just a few days before.
And then it happened.
"THISTLE FARMS!?" Woman #2 exclaimed. It couldn't have been more perfect. She saw my computer screen and recognized the photo because her non-profit booth had been set up directly across from Thistle Farms' booth during the conference.
I turned around and confessed my eavesdropping.
"I'm sorry, I was totally listening to your story," I rushed, apologetically. "But what you were saying... was just so... coincidental."
Instead of being annoyed (or slightly frightened), she laughed and wanted to know how I was involved with Thistle Farms -- on Charlotte Pike in Nashville -- where she had met them at Catalyst -- held at the Gwinnett Center in Atlanta -- and now we were having a conversation about them -- at Aroma Cafe in Los Angeles.
Random? Definitely. Coincidence? Perhaps. But there's more.
Her name is Caitlin Crosby. She's an actress and also a singer (and a really good one, at that). And her manager, who lives in Nashville, is even a friend of mine. She started a non-profit called The Giving Keys, which possesses the same "teach them to fish" mentality that Thistle Farms provides. In our first chance meeting, we talked about a ton of things we had in common: our love of our respective non-profits... and the music industry... and where to meet men in LA (or anywhere else for that matter)... and the fact that we need to do this again soon. Next time, though, we'd switch up the coffee for some wine.
So maybe that IS the key. To ask God for a breakthrough,
specifically, then look for it
intentionally. To
believe that meaningful moments
will happen -- be it an introduction to an
awesome non-profit, discovering
fantastic new music or making
a new friend.
However, it looks like I'm going to have to be a little more clear on my "breakthrough" specifications. Guess God didn't quite get the "man of my dreams" part just yet. Then again, I've got time.
Perhaps that's the other key.
