Something shifted in me last fall. During my first visit to The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, I connected to my power. To the power of my true essence. And there was No Turning Back from that experience.
This past weekend, I returned to Omega to meet a woman who, ten years ago, came to know her power, to remember her power, when she was profoundly re-introduced to her pure essence. Four years fighting lymphoma. Organ failure from end-stage cancer. Thirty hours in deep coma. Reawakening over three days, straddling two worlds. And then, just three weeks later, a clean bill of health. No trace of cancer and a fully documented medical history to prove it.
I didn't go to Omega to hear Anita Moorjani's story. I had already done that. Dozens of times. She has generously and freely shared it online for many years. And I didn't go to meet her as a celebrity. That doesn't interest me, even though she and her story are well known by millions around the world. I went to meet the person. A fellow human. A shoulder-to-shoulder sojourner. To be in her presence and share a common experience. To feel her energy and love and to share mine with her. Now, having done that, I can say without hesitation, that both Anita and Danny, her dedicated, funny, engaging and loving husband, are two of the warmest people I have ever had the pleasure to know.
I spent three days with a few dozen others, up close and personal with both Anita and Danny. Anita did the talking, but it was crystal clear that this is a life purpose partnership between the two. You know genuine when you see it. You know authentic when you hear it. You know love when you feel it. And these two are all of these. Fun, authentic, approachable and extraordinarily loving people without an ounce of ego between them. I have goosebumps writing this as I relive the adorable exchanges between them during our time together, and the way they both welcomed all of us into their lives throughout the weekend.
I am still processing this amazing experience, and no doubt it will fuel many posts to come. But there is value in capturing what first bubbles to the surface and sharing it while it's fresh. So, today, I offer the first gift I received from this weekend. By definition, gifts do not arrive through seeking. Gifts arrive of their own accord, and that's how this one came to me.
My first gift is the gift of confirmation. I was not seeking confirmation. Confirmation simply showed up. Confirmation of Anita's genuine and authentic character. Confirmation of her warm heart are fearless spirit full of love and truth and grace. Confirmation that the trust I have in her story is well invested. Confirmation that BeYourselfBlog's foundational underpinnings are bedrock solid. Confirmation that my belief, my knowing, that we are all here for a purpose is true, and that our true essence is magnificent and powerful beyond human comprehension. Confirmation that the resonance I felt the first time I heard Anita's story was genuine.
We have all had the experience of resonating with someone through their works. Their words or creations are in our hands; or hanging before us on gallery walls; or filling our ears and souls, sweeping us on currents of chords and rhythms toward sparkling white shores, lush green mountains, or other realms of unimaginable beauty. We can, and do, often experience this without ever meeting its source. Without having the privilege of entering the sacred space of the person holding the pen, brushing the canvas, or carving the music out of thin air from the tip of a baton. To complete the experience, we often add the element of our imagined relationship with the human soul behind the work. Authors, poets, musicians, artists; they ride into our lives on the waves of their work, on the swells of their message. We grow to know them. We begin to feel what they feel. Or so we think. We take their experience and make it our own. We open our soul and, vulnerably, invite them in without ever having made their acquaintance. It's a natural, empathetic human response. One we have to varying degrees every day. One that I, and millions of others, have had with Anita Moorjani for many years.
I have absorbed the stories of hundreds, if not thousands, of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) since I was a teenager. I have formed opinions and impressions over four decades, beginning with my father's own NDE when I was a child. Anita's, however, came with details and a message that resonated like no other. Like many others attending, I had read her book, Dying To Be Me, and watched dozens of her presentations and interviews. Every experience left the impressions that I've expressed here. Now, having met Anita in person, I can say that my impressions are both confirmed and unchanged.
Let there be no doubt, Anita returned for and with a purpose. She is here to give the gift of her experience to all who have ears to hear. And she is here to receive the gifts that await her in the sharing of that experience. Thank you, Anita and Danny, for your loving sacrifice of time and open-arms access at Omega, to help us all recall and reclaim our power. To share that we must first love ourselves unconditionally before we can hold that space of unconditional love for others. And to help us understand that above all, we are here to be ourselves as we move through the world, being who we were born to be. You are living proof of these truths. You are loving proof of the power of unconditional love.