Sometimes co-incidences are stranger than fiction! And it can be wonderful.

 

The weirdest things have happened to me this month. I’ve been super-busy, as I always am. I’m reprising my role as Patricia Highsmith in a play, Writing Crime in Akenfield, by local author Suzanne Hawkes, which returns to the stage in October. I’ve also been editing my novel, which launches in December, and trying to help other creatives by championing their various projects. I lost two family members in the last fortnight, and so it got me thinking about how life changes and whether there is an afterlife. You know, simple little questions like that! I’m not a church-goer, and not a consciously religious person, but I would describe myself as quite a spiritual person, maybe an ‘intrigued agnostic’ and always happy to approach anything with an open mind. I have certainly had several interesting spiritual experiences which would not rule out the existence of some sort of afterlife, as they were too unusual to explain by any rational means. In a contemplative state of mind, I found myself thinking about prayers and whether they help. I then carried on reading my rather fun book from the Isabella Smugge series by the lovely local writer Ruth Leigh. In the part I have reached, Ruth’s titular character was offering up a prayer and then this prayer was answered in one of the Lord’s mysterious ways! I found myself considering this whilst I was swimming up and down in the pool later in the morning. I then wrote a short story, about unintended consequences, and as I typed the final full stop, there was a knock at the door – much like what happens to the character I am playing in Suzanne’s play. This co-incidence not enough, it was my son’s friends who were calling and one of them was reading my poetry, and asked if he could pray for my energy and continued and great success as a writer! He also said that the message to me was that I was seen and listened to, and I was known. It was yet another strange and rather lovely co-incidence, as if this person was sent to answer my questions and bring me some sort of blessing for me and my creative work. Well, friends, I have to report that it only took a few days, and that blessing came through in abundance. Some very positive things happened and yet more fortuitous co-incidences came my way. Call it what you like, but I am feeling that someone is looking out for me!

 

I’ve also been thinking about the concept of forgiveness, again precipitated by the same literature. You have a lot to answer for, Ruth Leigh - I bet you didn't realise that you excellent and humorous book about an influencer would send this reader spiralling down a path of contemplation and spirituality! A few days ago, I’d been speaking with someone about whether they ever 'fall out' with people. They were telling me that once someone had told them that they regularly fall out with people, which they took as a warning! I replied that I have only ever fallen out with a handful of people in my life – in fact I can literally count the number on one hand. I generally follow the advice of the lovely Joanna Lumley, who says she gives everyone a chance. She treats them as if they are lovely, and is lovely towards them, and generally it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. But she also advises you to get rid of anyone who lets you down. Great advice. I get on with nearly everyone. A few people genuinely don’t understand me and that’s ok, and some believe me to be some kind of enigmatic threat. Perhaps because I am honest – people are not used to honesty and it makes them suspicious, ironically. I think people are also suspicious if you are nice to them - some people can't believe that anyone would just 'be nice' for no reason. That's such a shame. If people ‘fall out’ with me, it’s sometimes something to do with their own behaviour, or their own perception of things at least, and I can’t control that. I always try to mend things if I think I have done something wrong, but sometimes people just won't let you. Should we forgive people who treat us poorly? I think, yes. This doesn’t mean you have to be friends or let these people back into your life to inflict damage – on the contrary, I totally believe in the ‘block’ button! But I suppose it means to let it go from within yourself, so you can move forward and don’t harbour negative energy. And that is when wonderful things happen.

 

I think we should let the wonderful in. It doesn’t just happen in books – co-incidences and signs are all around us and whether you believe they are signs from God, spiritual signs, or just plain old statistics, bound to happen sooner or later, keep your eyes open and accept that not everything can be explained. And keep believing that something good will come your way.