I recently fell in love…with an old building in Centerville that caught my eye last Summer when it came up for sale. As I walked through it, it spoke to me. Not once, not twice, but every time I set foot inside it. The building silently told me things I didn’t know about myself; it showed me how much beauty there is in history, how much authenticity there is in a structure that has seen nearly two centuries of life…and it was clear that we had always belonged there. My business and I. It was where I knew I needed to be. The worn wooden floors- beams that have been around for almost 200 years, having seen things I can only imagine; the gorgeous stone wall that reaches up two stories and somehow makes me feel instantly safe. I feel at home in this place. More often than not, life happens to us, and if we aren’t listening, we miss out on opportunities that could transform us, adding a new dimension to our lives that we didn’t even know we needed. My heart is more at peace now than it has ever been at any other point in my life. I’m calm inside. I feel lucky. I feel whole.

Because of this experience- the instant, unexplainable connection I felt to this ancient, creaky, stone house- I’m trying to listen more. I’m trying to pay more attention to and appreciate the beauty in history, in old things- things that have endured. Things with a story to tell. I’m also trying to listen more to things that can’t be seen. There is energy surrounding all things, so I’m trying to listen with my instincts, my heart, my fibers, my nerve endings.

Just like with this old building, on several occasions I have recognized something within someone else that was familiar, and the need to know them was so great that I was drawn to them, despite being strangers. Part of me that I didn’t know existed recognized and connected to part of someone else whom I truly believe I was meant to know in this life. I’ve met several people in the past six months who have spoken to me without saying a word. They have appeared seemingly randomly, our paths crossing, and despite not knowing them, as soon as we spoke, I felt like I knew them. It was comfortable. It was familiar. For no good reason at all. And when something like that happens, you listen.

There’s magic in feeling things you can’t explain. And now I know that sometimes things are out of our control and out of our realm of understanding. Sometimes people pull us to them for reasons we might not know yet. Sometimes things or places speak to us silently in ways we cannot explain. But if you pay attention- if you listen- these experiences leave their mark on you, and help foster a belief in things that cannot be seen, that can only be felt.

There are people in this world who draw us to them. There are buildings we are meant to occupy and make our nests in, be it for work or play, or both. There are experiences that occur that are meant to happen to us. Open your eyes. Pay attention. Trust me, you do not want to miss these moments…they guide us, they fulfill us, and they make up some of the absolute best things in life.