Tomorrow I am flying to Prague, Czech Republic. Crazy as it sounds: very early this morning I arrived in Los Angeles after flying from Mexico City overnight. I landed, took a nap, woke up, worked, met my mentor for lunch to chat about a project, and then went back to his house for an afternoon of conversations. He’s a big reason why I’m in Los Angeles for a day… and that statement will make much more sense in a few paragraphs.
During our conversations today I mentioned that I wanted to make a short video, but haven’t. He made tea for me and his wife, and then we went to his office where he sat me in front of his computer. I had no clue what I would say. In less than a minute he set up my makeshift studio. Then he knelt on the floor next to me (just out of view) and clicked the mouse to start the recording. I opened my mouth and words miraculously came out. We did three takes, each time he stood up, gave feedback, and then took his place on the floor next to me while I shot another video.
This man has changed many lives, he’s changed my life, and there he was on the floor. Minutes later he received an email that his latest Ted Talk had been released on YouTube. After we finished our chat, I asked him if he’d like to watch it… of course he did. So there we sat, watching the talk he gave in Switzerland in December. I was with him live at the Ted event and it touched me deeply then. This time, I deeply enjoyed watching him take it all in.
While sitting there next to him, I wondered: How the heck did I get here?
On July 30, 2016 I purchased a book (The Inside-Out Revolution) after a friend suggested it. Little did I know what a pivotal moment that was. Just over a day later I finished the book and on the next day, August 1st 2016 my whole world changed in an instant. I’ll never forget the moment everything shifted. My heart raced (sustained at 120 beats per minute for 20+ minutes while sitting in my office). I couldn’t concentrate: I had understood something huge and my life would forever be changed. A few months later I googled “Michael Neill” to see who this dude was that wrote the book.
Just 2.5 years later here I am, sitting next to him… watching Michael watch his gorgeous Ted Talk. The man who only minutes before was kneeling on the floor helping me. The talk finished, I felt proud of my friend and delighted for him. I asked if I could take his dogs for a walk. I love his dogs as if they are my own. Pepper, Lily and I headed out on a long walk.
During our earlier chat, one of the topics Michael and I discussed was feelings and emotions. I’m feeling so much more nowadays than I have in the previous three decades. While out on the walk watching Lily and Pepper play and taking in the views from atop the Santa Monica Mountains, emotions were aplenty. Love washed through me and a few tears streamed down my face. Sometimes life seems like a fairy tale. More and more life seems like a fairy tale all the time.
The dogs and I headed back down in to Michael’s neighborhood. Dinner was almost ready when we got back. Nina, Michael and I ate and chatted. Michael cleared the table and did dishes while Nina and I gabbed on. Words of congrats and love about his Ted Talk arrived via the internet. Nina hadn’t seen the video yet, so she brought it up on her phone and the three of us watched it together at the dinner table. Now I’m watching them watching the Ted Talk: hand in hand and full of love. **After you watch the Ted Talk, you’ll know why this is even more special than it seems.
How did I get here? It makes no sense and then perfect sense, but mostly it makes no sense.
The day I clicked the “Buy Now” button for Michael’s book seems like a lifetime ago. In my wildest dreams I could not have fathomed the journey between flipping that book open and reading the first word to casually sitting here hanging out with two special friends. If I could take a screen shot of life right now and go back in time to show it to myself the instant I read that first page… what would I have thought? Probably: How???
Truth Is: There is no explanation.
Fast forward one day ahead to present time: In this instant I am on the first leg of my flight, headed for Paris, France and proofreading this blog. Tears are forming again as I am remembering all the things I’ve experienced in just two years, a lifetime of experiences. I’m realizing all the things I’ve seen, an indescribably epoch expanse of seeing. Such deep gratefulness runs through and through for friendships with beautiful souls around the world, experiences of love, occurrences I can’t yet describe, and a depth of understanding about life… All unimaginable. I am tempted to say it began with the turning of one page, but it didn’t. It began long before, in the infinite beginning.
What if everything is a Coddiwomple, but we just don’t know it?
What do you really want to do?
Go do that.
What if you sat in a space of love and gratefulness for a moment, then went and did exactly what your heart guided you to do for the next three minutes. What if you just did that? What if you really gave yourself the freedom to just be? What might become of those three minutes? What might become of you?
What if you continued doing that over and over again for forever?
What if your will and God’s will are the same? What if there is no difference? (Substitute any word you wish instead of “God”: The Universe, Wisdom, Love, Creator, or anything… it’s a word to describe the indescribable.) To me that statement doesn’t feel heavy at all. It’s a simple reality.
Another way to express the same sentiment: Our heart’s desire is pointing to our Ultimate Coddiwomple. Go. It’s simpler than you think, totally ordinary, and magnificently extraordinary all at the same time.
What are you waiting for?
Coddiwomple Now 🙂
If you are curious, here’s the three minute video we made yesterday: Coddiwomple Now
One of the sweetest parts of the video is in the last 30 seconds. In the lower left corner, notice the top of Michael’s head as he’s peering around. What a guide. What a servant’s heart. What a friend.
Here is Michael’s Ted Talk. Please do yourself (and the world) a favor and watch/share this: Can a Ted Talk Really Change the World? (I don’t want to spoil it for you, but… Yes, it can!)
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Fantastic blog post Kristy! Thank you for sharing it. Hearing your story is really inspiring.