I had a truly wonderful surprise the other day. I was on the train back from a day trip to London, casually browsing through my phone when I received a notification of a comment on one of my Facebook posts. To my delight, it was from a long-lost friend from Australia. I wasn't even aware that she had returned to her hometown. The last time we saw each other was over 20 years ago when she visited my house in Devon. At that time, my two kids were in preschool, and she brought along her girls, who were even younger than mine.
It's hard to believe, but in those days, we weren't connected online. There were no emails or even texts; we communicated through landline telephones. After her week-long visit, she returned to London. We spoke on the phone a couple of times, but with no internet, it became easy to lose touch. We were both mothers of young kids juggling family and career, and without the digital connectivity, staying in touch was a challenge.
Since then, I attempted to find her on the internet several times, but to no avail. My incomplete knowledge of her surname hindered my search. However, my hunch that she had moved from the UK to Australia turned out to be correct.
We were yoga buddies, spending a significant amount of time in West London in the mid-1990s. We attended David Swenson’s and other yoga teachers’ retreats together, and loved hanging out before, after, and between yoga classes. Looking back, those were the best days of my life. I loved going to yoga, spending time with her, and our other yoga mates.
Strangely, I didn't know exactly what she did for a living. I suppose these details weren't important at the time. However, I do recall her researching an American slave musician and planning to write a book about him.
Since our recent reconnection, we've exchanged a few voice messages. It's amazing how hearing her voice brought all those memories flooding back. She shared that she successfully published the book she had planned and went on to study history, becoming an academic who now teaches at universities. Additionally, she recently published another book. What's more amazing is that she continues to practice Ashtanga Yoga. To think, we are living half a planet apart, yet both diligently maintaining our Ashtanga practice for nearly 30 years!
Hearing her voice was like a wake-up call, shaking me from a lazy snooze. While I had been stagnating and worrying, she had moved to the other side of the Earth, raised kids, and achieved so much! Her voice reconnected me to myself in my late 20s/early 30s when life was unexplored territory, and I was waiting to be discovered. Not knowing was exciting, not scary. I was fearless, waking up each day with quiet excitement in my stomach.
And she reminded me that I can get back to that. It’s ok to acknowledge the anxiety and fear caused by hustle and bustle of life, but I can still move forward. I can still explore life. I might be a little worn out by life's challenges, but I am still the same person inside—alive and shining. I am still with the mighty power inside me. I just needed to be reminded of that. Life suddenly seems much brighter today.
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