A Year of Noticing - Day 24
Small miracles, make a big life difference!
One of my favourite things about driving through small towns (at least throughout the province that I live in), are the statues that … like the the giant “Happy Rock” statue that I passed on my drive two days ago on the outskirts of Gladstone (LOL - I also love the pun!!)
These small towns, take something small and amplify it. Sometimes there is the “world’s largest something” to showcase something they are proud of, invite those passing by to stop and pause for a moment to enjoy their community, their home, or is related to the name of the small town, so that you have a touchstone to remember the name of that place you drove through!
In this town, Swan River, there is a giant swan as you enter town, and I walk out to see it each morning and upon return to my hotel each evening. This evening the setting sun was glistening behind, making it seem almost effervescent!
What I love is how these roadside statues show pride, and can remind you of a place, and take something small and amplify it!
Today I was reminded of memories from over twenty five years ago, but these memories have had a placeholder in my mind, like a small town statue. Only shared with a few passersby, but have held a very special place in my heart and in my life. Today I noticed that these stories wanted to be written and shared… so in a slightly different tone than previously… more of a remembering… and noticing how I felt in those experiences… and how in remembering, I noticed how I can be instantly transported back… just like a small town statue can transport you back to a memory of a place you visited!
I share the following with so much love, awe and gratitude…
I’m taking the most beautiful virtual class this autumn called “ Inhale: Recovering Family Medicines Through Storytelling” with the incredible storyteller and author, Richard van Camp. Each week he tells stories and invites others to share theirs, especially miracle stories. I’ve pondered some of my many miracle stories, but the ones that keep coming to the front of my mind happened when I was twenty-one years old.
Of course, as a 21-year-old, I didn’t recognize either of them as miracle stories at the time… or not in the profound way that I do now… but they have inspired me to continue to dream big, shine bright and remember that I have a purpose of being alive here on planet earth at this time!
The summer I turned twenty-one I was working at a summer camp, the same camp I had attended since I was seven years old and this year, I was part of the leadership team. The camps each ran for ten days and then we had four days off, and frequently we continued to spend time together camping or visiting someone’s cabin (because we were family for the summer and loved spending time together). One particular weekend off, I don’t recall whose cabin we were at, but there were some big rocks known for great cliff jumping. Since we were all in our early twenties, and our frontal cortexes were not fully developed yet, we all thought cliff jumping was going to be amazing!
I think we took a boat out to the cliffs, though that part isn’t clear in my mind. What I do recall was standing at the top, and before we jumped one person reminded each of us that we needed to jump out a little extra when we jumped because this wasn’t a cliff that had rocks slanting inwards, creating a safe straight down jump. Oh, no… there was actually a part of the rock that jutted OUTWARDS and we need to make sure that we jumped out far enough to clear that rock! (Again, we were 20 and so still thought this was a good idea!?!?!)
A few people jumped and were treading water below. I don’t particularly remember feeling fear… probably more of an excited glee mixed with a slight anxious worry, but it wasn’t enough to slow me down. In hindsight, maybe there were more intense emotions there than I acknowledged, but I was up next. I walked closer to the edge, looked over to scout out the jump, and then took a few steps back again so I could take a running leap – to make sure that I jumped OUT far enough to clear the jutting out rock! The ground was a little wet from people who had bravely already taken multiple jumps before me, and as I started my slow run towards the edge, my right foot slipped a little and instead of taking one more important step before leaping off the cliff my body was already hurtling forward in a free fall!
I’m not sure I saw my life flash before my eyes, but in those split seconds of free fall towards the water (well, most truthfully towards that horrible jutting out piece of rock and I could envisage myself hitting and ricocheting off that rock to the water, traumatizing all the friends I was with), I do recall seeing in my mind an image of a newspaper clipping with the title, “Young adult dies while cliff jumping…” and my next thought was, “No, this can’t happen… I’m not ready to die!” How all these thoughts travelled through my mind still is beyond me.
The next thing I can recall is landing in the water with a massive splash, my two-piece bathing suit twisted and revealing body parts that it once covered. As I abashedly tried to get my bathing suit back into its correct position, I started to laugh, not giddy with glee but with shock, “How did I not just die?” My friends shocked looks showed me that they were thinking the same thing… between the looks on their faces and rapid expressions of amazed gratitude and awe, “You were heading straight for that rock?” and “What just happened there?” and “Someone was looking out for you today” and hugs that I was alive all made me feel like it just not just luck that I survived that cliff jump, but I was protected in a miraculous way!
No one else dared to jump again that day… holding reverence for the miracle we had witnessed and not wanting to tempt fate… plus a little more reality of our mortality, while grateful for the divine intervention we had experienced.
I never told my parents that story, but I have recalled it often when I have doubted the meaning of life or my purpose, and am filled with so much awe and gratitude for being saved that day while cliff jumping!
And maybe the angels were really trying to get my attention that year, because a few months later in mid-December when the days were short and very dark, I was walking home from university. I had walked part way home with a friend, but we parted ways at the top of Bond Street, each of our houses in separate directions. Though it was only 8pm, I can recall it being a dark, moonless night and there wasn’t yet snow which made the long walk home to the rental house I shared with six roommates feel extra long. I had walked home on my own often, and when I was about halfway down the very long two blocks a car stopped beside me.
I don’t recall the conversation, but I do remember the incredible fear and uneasiness I felt. It seemed especially intense and I rarely can recall feeling such fear and so vulnerable. And the fear! It was as though time stood still and I don’t recall conversation, or how long the moments lasts, only the intense fear I felt… and the thought “I don’t want to die… or be abducted tonight”… and as those thoughts finished in my mind, suddenly eyes of the the driver of the car widened, and he looked as fearful as I felt and sped off down the street with a squeal of the tires and without another word.
Heart pounding, I slowly started walking again… or maybe I ran, that I don’t remember. By the time I arrived home a few minutes later, my body was still shaking and my heart was still pounding and I must have looked visibly shaken as my roommates gathered around and each gave me a hug. Within seconds of walking through the door, my friend Abby (who I had walked with for the first part home) called. She said, “Oh good. You made it home. I just got home and had the unshakeable feeling that I needed to call and make sure that you made it home ok.” At that moment, I burst into tears. The miraculousness of the moment finally settling in as I shared the experience that I almost didn’t make it home. We both were divinely guided and supported that night over twenty-five years ago!
And now, when I think back to that moment, I sense that there was at least one great angelic being standing behind me (perhaps Archangel Raphael), and perhaps many, and I wonder if the driver of that vehicle also saw and may have changed any harmful intentions that he had.
There have been many more miraculous and angelic moments since, but those were the first that I can recall where I felt as though I had been touched by an angel, and my life has never been the same.
I know today, more than ever how divinely support I am… and I am curious about your miracle stories, of love, magic and mystery…