A Single Moment

      I'm sitting here right now, wondering what I'm going to write. For the most part, this blog has been about the single moments that change our lives. What about the places that change them? Is there a such thing as a place that changes your life?

      When I was a kid, I used to go to a place called Balboa Park in San Diego just to walk around. You may be thinking this park was just a park. In all actuality, this park was like a miniature renaissance fair. There were fortune tellers, jugglers, musicians and even artists roaming the park on a daily basis. You never knew who or what you would run into. The creative vibes always flowed through the park without fear or hesitation.  When I first went there, I had this idea that anything creative was a waste of my time and energy. This is because I was raised believing that you had to be practical in life in order to make it. The thing is, this mold didn't always fit me. I was impulsive and leaped before I looked. I liked not knowing what was coming next. I enjoyed writing and listening to my muse. I didn't like sitting in the class rooms and listening to some boring teacher talk about all the wonderful applications of math or things like that.

      While I was at the park one day, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was a psychic. At the time, I didn't know she was a psychic. She was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed and a kid tried to take her purse. By accident, I managed to trip him. I don't know how because all I did was turn around at the right time. He dropped her purse and I took it back to her. I sat there for a while talking to her about life, love and the future. Funny thing is this, I had never spoke about any of this to anyone. She told me that my life would be free when I decided to follow my path. Being the kid I was, I shrugged it off and thanked her for the conversation.

       It wasn't until much later that I recalled her words. I have to say that she was correct. When I stopped fighting and making plans, and just went with the flow of life, it eased up on me enough to see what I needed to do for me.

      There are those who would say that's not the way to live. You know, going with the flow of it all. For those who say that, I say this: Life happens when you're busy planning. The thing is, for me, making plans never seemed to work. Outside forces beyond my control always managed to step in and flush the plans I had. The day I stopped making plans was the day I was free to do what I wanted. It was the day I decided to write my first novel. I didn't know where it would take me or even how far into the journey I was going to get, but that didn't matter. What mattered was for the first time in my life, I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. That novel is now sitting in a disk, completed. It was the proof I needed to see that I could do this. Now all I needed were the tools.

      The tools are important in anything you plan on doing. I already loved reading, so now I had to practice writing. It has taken years of practice to get to the point I'm at now. I still mess up on the grammar, but the flow of the story is good. I'll take that any day. I don't know about anyone else, but, when I decided to do what I wanted, this whole other world opened up to me. The question remains: Can a place change your life?

      The following was sent to me by Fred Everson. It's about a place that changed his life and the lives of his friends.

      ‎34 years ago I'm in this bar. The head bouncer recognizes my tall friend as a former student from grammar school and hires him as a bouncer. We rent a house on the Jersey shore, both get hired eventually, make a bunch of new friends, and marry girlfriends met in the bars. That night changed a lot of lives. The Sea Girt Inn is long gone, but everybody who ever worked there, or partied there has never forgotten.

      I have to say that yes, a place can change your life. Conversations that are held with people sometimes are brought up in the future. Advice is given when we least expect it when we are where we are suppose to be. The universe has a way of guiding us to where we are suppose to be. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I believe everything happens for a reason. If I hadn't turned around at the right moment, I never would have had that conversation with the nice lady and she wouldn't have told me not to fight my own path.

      Thank you Fred or sharing a place in your life that changed it for the better. I think we all have places like that. Hmmm, I feel another topic coming on...lol...