“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi

You know how you see inspirational quotes all the time on social media? Well this time I had the happy occasion to feel it as it was happening to me. On many levels.

I was hanging out with my lovely husband at a favorite local coffee shop, Luna Caffe, and there was a new exhibit hanging. I was immediately taken with the careful intricacy of the work, and keenly aware of the time it would take the artist to complete each piece. The subject matter, Aesop’s fables, was apparent in many of the pieces, stories that teach.

meta reflectionsAnd it was pure serendipity that the artist happened to be there, and I don’t know how I knew exactly, but I just did–know that she was the creator of the pieces. She appeared as delicate as her works of art, though I know there is a fierceness in her that makes her persevere.

So I asked her about them, and after deciding a certain piece was just right for my office, I asked her if she would tell me what story she was thinking about while creating it.

She said, “I came back to Wilmington to go back to school again and had to make a lot of adjustments and changes and I just wanted to reflect on myself and wonder if I was making the right decision and questioning my happiness.”

Turns out it was her own story, which was even more beautiful to me.

First I wanted to validate her process. Second I wanted to lift up her work and reflect back to her how good it is. And lastly, but overarching it all, was the circular nature of reflection I experienced because I am doing what feels completely right and good in my own work, using her work as perhaps a small example of the difficulty of my client’s own work, for it is always their work. And the ones that succeed do so because of how hard they work at it.

This is a message I try to deliver consistently, because there is no magic therapeutic wand I can wave.I hope that I say the right words to be of help, and I read and study constantly to learn more about my clients’ particular issues, but most of the work a person does is outside of the office. When they experience the changes they so desperately desire, that is their magic.

I sincerely hope and believe that this young artist, Ashley Maria Thompson, will find she has chosen the right path for herself, but as I offered when leaving, there are many “right paths”  in life. If one does not work out, you will find another that does. Keep traveling.

And if you want to read a write up in the Star News that I (surprisedly) woke up to one day after having this lovely experience, the link is here. When you carefully examine the picture, titled “The Reflection”, (the picture shown here) that will be in my office after her show ends, you can see my reflection, symbolic to me on a meta level of my own journey.

Harmony is such a beautiful experience; I highly recommend it.

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