Wild Confluence

I met a friend for lunch today in NYC. She'd been wanting to try Balthazar, a French-inspired brasserie in Soho, so we made plans and made a reservation. I took the train up - I think it's the first time I've been back since Covid. Ellen and her husband, David, jumped on the subway from their hotel uptown. It was their last day on the east coast before flying back to the west.

Ellen and I met during Covid when we both signed up for Seth Godin's Creatives Workshop and we continued supporting each other's writing in Writing in Community, another workshop supported by Seth, one that renewed periodically and operated for years. After the Akimbo workshops had their sunset, a group of us continued on together as we created and support another writing platform. (Actually, two of them.) From there, we formed a women's writing collective that has created and published two anthologies of our work. 

Today was the first time we met in person. 

We spent nearly four hours together, enjoying lunch and shopping before we each headed off in our own directions. I walked back to Penn Station, stopping into shops along the way. It was a long walk on a beautiful day in a vibrant city. One of my favorite things to do, and deeply restorative.

I posted a check-in on Facebook, along with a photograph of the beautiful Pavlova we had for dessert. In the comments, my brother posted, 

Seriously?!? I had lunch there today!

And then, 

Down on Spring Street?!?

Now, mind you, my youngest brother is something of a trickster character, often coming up with outlandish pronouncements. I tell myself each time that I won't fall for them, but I usually do. I texted him,

Are you messing with me?

He sent a photo of himself and his client, there, at Balthazar.

How is it possible that of all the places on Earth, the two of us were in Manhattan at the same time, same place?

It was a wild confluence.

We mused while texting, that we'd probably still be there talking if we'd run into each other. The only reason we didn't know, I think, is because I was seated with my back to the door. Tough luck, that one.

My Fall-ing In Love emphasis for this fall has hit a new high. The gifts of this time are truly a marvel. The rest of the week will hold some pretty intensive work. I'm not thinking about that right now. Sure I notice it, observe it without judgment. But the awareness bounces right off me. It's a beautiful thing. 

Fall-ing In Love: 40 Days of Noticing is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.