She asked if I wanted to join her in the comfy seats in a local coffee shop in West End Vancouver. We struck up a conversation when I forgot my bottle of water I’d ordered alongside my Cafe Americano. As I settled into the cushy seating we struck up a conversation that astounded and impressed me.
Settling into casual conversation and yet so familiar, I felt instantly connected to her, as if I’d known her for a long time. I was so engrossed in her stories and her connection with the local community. She told me about her life being “clean” for over 25 years of her life and now she panhandles along this street and has created an amazing connection of friends and vendors within walking distance of this little coffee shop. At first I thought, wow... I have never sat down and gotten to know someone who works on the street, and here the Universe has delivered me into that cozy seats at the coffee shop to indulge in someone’s life... so distant, I felt, from my own.
I had pulled out my little laptop prior to striking up the conversation, and it became a point to chat about as she has been saving up to buy a laptop so she can communicate with her son working overseas. She usually uses the Library internet/computers, but she has been wanting to have a more personal connection with her son and the outside world via her own doorway... her own computer. She told me how she has free access to internet in the little place she rents but no computer to utilize it. We talked about the different models out there, and the ones that she had looked into at a local used computer store down the street.
Our visit invited me into world and a connection that I had not anticipated, yet felt oddly comfortable and real. Since we are all related “spiritually” we are never “disconnected” from one another. I found this connection with my coffee shop friend to be refreshing and greatly insightful. For once where I may have had a preconception of “people in lacking” she told me about how fortunate she was to have the people in her life and the circumstances that were not at all “unfortunate” to her at all. On days when she makes $10 or $20 a day, she is so happen and can afford a coffee and a few extra pieces of chicken at a local deli market. She mentioned that she has a roof over her head, she has friends that care about her in the local vendors, police and medical workers that she never feels alone or unsafe.
The world provides where and we need it... we do not need to live in fear... as so many people think we need to do to survive. Even the coffee shop said to her that if she EVER needs to use the bathroom, she is more than welcome. Life is abundant and people are caring... even when some passers by toss cigarette butts towards her, she still calmly replies, “Thank you and have a nice day. Why do I need to say ‘go fuck yourself’... there is already too much negative energy in the world and I’m not one to share that negative energy when I can give the gift of positive energy to everyone that might look down upon me.” No malice, no judgement. And as the ‘butt tossers’ come back out of the restaurant, they place a few coins in her jar... the Universe delivering exactly what she so wonderfully deserves.
Living on faith... “Without faith”, she says with a wry grin, “we have nothing.” Wow... we are not so dissimilar... we are not so separate... we are all connected without even knowing it or having to “think” about it. As we said our goodbyes and we both agreed that we would see each other again along the street sometime... I passed her some veggies I had just bought for my dinner this evening. She was thankful and very gracious and shook my hand.
Grace, love, positive energy and a bag of frozen veggies between to re-acquainted Universal friends.
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