KNOWvember: Day Eighteen, KC

We may have been in the same time zone, but it was snowing on her end and sunny on mine. Having lived in places where weather can throw your day for a loop, KC was experiencing some technical issues that had me wondering if we’d meet. After a few attempts to connect, we did. And boy am I glad the universe made it happen.  
 
I hesitate to write about time together because I want to keep it to myself. On a day I really needed God to hug me, I have to say I am grateful to have gotten this wonderful soul sister. 

A spiritual Bedouin like me, but more so.  KC first introduced herself stating “My life is a vacation.” What started as moving around for work lead to a new way of approaching life. By being fluid and free like the wind.  Maybe in her Irish roots there’s some nomadic gypsy or wild rover mixed in. Or maybe it’s as simple as “I love constant movement and change.”
 
Her adventurer spirit is truly a holy spirit. Moving in and through and around the world, KC rarely is one place more than a few months. Having spent her career studying people in the corporate world, KC discovered the world was much more interesting classroom - great people to meet, and interesting things to do. So, she and "my husband of 100 years" moved out of their home and into the world. And they have never looked back. 
 
It started with a catamaran in San Diego. “I wanted to sail again, like I did when I was younger.” She was surprised to learn that I too grew up sailing catamarans. They named their boat Lagniappe, which means a little something extra. A little extra joy. A little extra freedom. A little extra life than what we often give ourselves.  
 
Eventually the boat was sold, as well as their home and all their stuff back in Indiana. They bought an RV and began to just drive. “I felt homeless.” This would hit KC harder than she thought, but soon she would discover what she always knew and felt. That inside us all is the Spirit of home. “Now I know and can take it [home] anywhere I go.” Today that place is Lake Tahoe, in a foot of snow.
 
Like her 8 year-old grandson recently pointed out, we get to “Choose our own adventure story.” KC likes to begin her adventure stories with a simple question, “What do you want to do today?” For KC, it’s designing her life, her work, and new destinations with the attitude of, “What can I do here that I can’t do anywhere else?”  Like our mutual friend who introduced us likes to say, “Now that’s worth doing in needlepoint.”
 
After sharing our stories, uncovering all the things we had in common, and listening with the intension to be fully present in one another’s life, I told KC I could sum her up in one word. Although her eyes seemed thrown off, her smile brighten even more so when she heard me say, “Torah.” The way life was designed and is meant to be lived. I suspect KC had a different idea considering. her favorite Muppet is Oscar the Grouch. “He’s always speaking his truth”  (another one worth doing in  needlepoint).
 
I am only scratching the surface of all the time and wisdom that KC gifted to me. She is someone who understands the freedom that life offers. And she’s willing to share it; being fully present and filled of love and grace. I like to think that she achieved her goal for the day. “I just want to bring people together, in peace.”  And isn’t that really the point of Torah?  
 
“When a sailor has another sailor and a half hour what else are we going to talk about but the thrill and depth of life?” As we swapped stories and laughter, I realized that we are all sailors aboard the ship of life. But it takes a special person to stay at the helm. Someone who not only understands the wind but who also has the ability and trust to give over completely to it. In just a few short moments into our conversation with KC, I was already swooped up and swirling around in that flow. And after being knocked down with some hard news, that was exactly where I needed to be.