About finding something you need more than what you thought you were looking for
As an Equine Assisted Coach I love to work from the source of not knowing and with an unprejudiced view. For a horse this is a natural thing to do in horse coaching. For humans it is less natural and sometimes life teaches us in a wonderful way.
Next to horses I have a deep love for art and painting. A few years ago I wanted to use a text in one of my paintings. First of all I thought I would use a piece of a song that was very true and dear to me. I wanted to use two of those lines. Then I expanded it to four. But while I was doing groceries I suddenly realized the sentences held more true to my father than to me. In this reflective state I picked up my kids from school and while I was waiting for them at the schoolyard, the English story came in very quickly, piece by piece, bit by bit. Coming home I provided my kids with biscuits and tea. Then I started writing, non-stop. In the worst possible handwriting on slips of paper. It was written within ten minutes. It had become a story instead of a few lines. How could this fit in a painting?
The story was artfully showing the story of my life. A life with some severe trauma’s that I secretly hid from the world. I had this strong feeling that I wanted a British woman to take a look at it before I would put it on a painting. But I didn’t know any British people. The place I live is very international, but I hadn’t met her so far. So I asked my children if they knew any kids at school with British parents. But I didn’t get a straightforward answer. I asked around in the hallways at school and got referred to an American lady that was an artist as well. I met up with her in a coffee bar. She was really nice and had all kind of suggestions. By looking at my story I got the impression that she thought it was an airy story.
My now former husband also referred me to his Dutch secretary who studied English. I didn’t know her and I was very reluctant. I just wanted that unknown British lady to take a look at it. But when his work force came over to have dinner at our house, I welcomed her into my heart. What a warm and passionate person in this intellectual environment. So I took my piece of paper and let her read it. When I asked her to correct it, it felt like she got very uncomfortable. “You shouldn’t change anything” she said “This is a story from your heart. Who am I to change it?” After insisting she gave me a few comments. But they were all different from the comments the American lady had. So I decided to hardly change anything.
And I continued my quest for this British lady. Reluctantly my daughter admitted there is a girl at school whose mom is British. She didn’t really know the girl that is three years older than her. She asked me not to contact the mother. But I did. I asked her if she would want to take a look at my one page story. It shouldn’t take long. We could meet up in the hallway after bringing the kids to school. And so we would on my son’s birthday. I was planning to bring in treats for him later that morning. At the moment the lady and I were going to take a look at my text, I realized I had lost it on my way to school. So she decided to come home with me. I poured us a cup of coffee and soon we starting chatting at the kitchen table. She took a quick glance at the text I had written, but had no comments. So we kept on chatting. How she was really into Fengshui and before I knew I gave her a tour around my house. I totally lost track of time until I realized I needed to bring in treats to my sons class and I didn’t even have the time any more to do groceries for that. The British woman turned out to be very into healthy food and so I was making 30 treats with what was available in my refrigerator with a woman I didn’t even know the day before. A warm, loving, sparkling, broad-minded woman. And soon she became a very close friend that I could share everything with that was going on inside of me.
My life was at a turning point at that moment. I had started to open up, process and heal my life and an inevitable divorce was put in motion only half a year later. The divorce was painful, but I decided to face every feeling I had, take action and heal myself the best I could. And there she was, this British woman, always there for me when I needed her. With a non-judging ear and an activating or energizing advice or activity. Without holding back I shared everything with her. Every step on the way of my divorce, her door was always open. Unaltered I put the text on my paintings.
It appeared that her English wasn’t all that good and only recently I discovered that she as a matter of fact is dyslectic. So I wasn’t really looking for someone to correct the spelling in my paintings after all, but without knowing I was desperately looking for this life saver I could confide in during my divorce.
If you would like to read the Serendipity text I put on my painting, you can find it on www.fabiennesart.com