Well, here I am at SXSW Interactive 2014! How did I get here? Honestly, I’m still not 100% certain but I have come up with a new verb to described it. I simply “universed” my way here. I universed my way into teaching a class on meditation at the biggest music, film and interactive festival in the world. Me. Jenni Bevill. The same Jenni Bevill who was a year ago getting drunk every night because she could not face the reality of her own life. Once again, here is in your face proof that miracles do happen. And they happen every single day.Specifically though, this particular manifestation started on a beach in Mexico last summer when I began to see that there was something much, much bigger that I was supposed to being doing. Or rather – something more that I was mean to be BEING. Fast forward through a vision quest, the Coaches Training Institute, yoga teacher training and a whole lot of uneasy nights of the soul and I found myself on the receiving end of a Facebook message from my dear friend and neighbor, Jessie.”Hey – do you teach mediation because my friend is looking for a meditation teacher during SXSW.”My first thought when I read this was that she had a friend who was going to be in town for SXSW and was looking for a private, meditation teacher. My second thought was, “Um, no. I don’t do that.” My self-doubt and my imposter syndrome kicked in hard and nearly caused me to miss out on one of the greatest opportunities in my life. THANK GOD, I got over it and instead asked myself, “Well, why the hell not? You meditate everyday (mostly) and you can teach yoga and you teach your clients the importance of meditation practice. You can totally do this!”I immediately ping Jessie back and let her know that I am in. She hooks me up with her pal and it becomes clear that she is not looking for a private mediation teacher. She is looking for someone to teach meditation at SXSW Interactive. After a brief interview to assess my qualifications, I was on the schedule.Are you kidding me? I literally thought I would do back flips around my living room.Earlier that very morning (and over the last few days) I had been meditating and visualizing how my next clients would appear in my life. And to think how close I had been to walking away from the opportunity because it showed up in a way that I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams. It reminds me of the story about the guy who is trapped on the roof of his house during a floor and passes up on the boat and the helicopter that offer to save him because he is waiting for God to save him. After he drowns and is standing at the pearly gates, he asks God, “Why didn’t you save me?” God replies, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want?’It is all about surrender and acceptance. It is all about being open to all the seemingly crazy and unforeseen ways that the Universe will show up with opportunities in your life. When you ask for a miracle, you’d better be ready to receive it when it comes – even if if doesn’t fit your finite, tiny human idea of what it is supposed to look like. As Albert Einstein said,
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Ask yourself seriously now, what kind of person are you? Because the choice, as always, is entirely up to you.Namaste, my loves. xoxo, Jenni