vasárnap, augusztus 22, 2010

My Book Fairy Story - UPDATED (Frissítve)*

Előre is elnézést, hogy a következő bejegyzés angolul lesz, de a project, amiben részt vettem ezt követeli meg (hogy a többi résztvevő is elolvashassa). Book Fairy - Könyv Tündér - voltam a legutóbbi hazalátogatásunk során, és az erről szóló történetet már régen közzé kellett volna tennem, hogy Christine is megtehesse ugyanezt az ő oldalán. Íme hát az én Book Fairy történetem:



This year I was super excited about going back home to Hungary. I haven’t been back for more than a year and a half - the longest period in my life. At the same time, I had a promise to keep, a very inspiring project to be a part of.
The Book Fairy logo has been displayed on my blog a while before I had signed up to be a Book Fairy last year. Being a big fan of Christine’s work as an artist, I cannot express how happy I was when she agreed to have me as one of her Book Fairies. 

„Imagine that you are going about your day, minding your own business, doing what you normally do here, there and far away.  Imagine noticing something out of the corner of your eye, a package in a brown paper bag with the words "This is a gift for YOU" written on it.  Would you know that the YOU in that message was YOU?  Would you dare accept a gift from a total stranger left on the windshield of your car, in your bicycle basket or on a bus bench?”

 
Christine’s book – the Ordinary Sparkling Moments – was published in 2008. One of her biggest dreams came true with this project, for which she felt truly blessed. The 100 Book Project is her “experiment, exploration of gratitude, of sharing a gift in every sense of the word.” This means that 100 books have been given away, left here and there in the world, from Tokyo to Washington, from Brazil to Namibia.


Not long before our trip to Hungary, I received “The Book”, which was destined to be placed in Hungary. The beautiful capital city of Budapest offered plenty of places that would have been perfect for the cause. A lovely coffee shop somewhere along the shores of the river Danube, Heroes’ Square - not to mention the famous Chain Bridge or Castle Hill. I planned to take wonderful photos of the surrounding area, of the book itself, and I hoped to snap a picture of the lucky person who would find the gift from Christine. Moreover, I also planned to record a small video of the exciting moment. As we usually stay in Budapest for the last three days of our trip to Hungary, I was really looking forward to the last couple of days. Clearly, I was full of great ideas.
Life had a different plan however.

 
To begin with, British Airways canceled our flight from Budapest to London, due to a strike. We were really worried that we were not going to be able to return to Toronto in time, which was of course crucial for both of us (I was to start a new job, for example). Just to be sure, we decided to change our return flight to a day earlier. While this meant less time in Budapest, I still had plenty of opportunity to find the “perfect” spot for the book. I only wished for good weather and little to no rain.
After we settled at our hotel, we went out for lunch. We had also scheduled two meetings for the afternoon; one with my ex-husband Szabolcs, and another with Attila - a friend from Toronto who moved back to Hungary, met someone special and had a baby girl with her.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, and overcast slowly turned to rain. I decided to leave the placing of the book for the next morning.

 
During our time with Szabolcs, I slowly became ill. I looked forward to this meeting and I knew Attila will be here soon with his new family, but the cold shivers and headaches did not want to disappear. I tried my best, but after a few minutes I had to excuse myself and go back the hotel. Fortunately it wasn’t too far, and my husband was on my side to help. While the sudden illness forced me to run straight into bathroom, I was nonetheless able to register that my husband’s phone conversation meant that we would welcome our friends in our hotel room. This wasn’t exactly the way we pictured our meeting with them. I was only able to join them for minutes at a time and spent the larger part of the evening in the bathroom.
Despite of this awkward situation, we had a really good time. It was very easy to communicate with Julcsi and we became very good friend in minutes. During our conversation (between two bathroom visits), Julcsi mentioned that she hardly had time to read but needed something inspirational. At that moment, I knew the fate of Christine’s book in Hungary. I decided to tell Julcsi the story of the book project, and with a large headache, unsettling dizziness but a huge excitement in my heart; I gave the book to her. 

There was no fantastic pictures of Budapest or a surprise video of the new owner of the book. The weather was crappy and I had an extremely bad time in Budapest. Nothing appeared to be right and yet everything turned out, just as it was meant to be. I was so desperate to complete the project perfectly, that I didn’t realize, that in the end, anything I’ll do would turn out to be “perfect”.
Well, it was one of those “ordinary sparkling moments”.



For the perfectionist in me, it was a great reminder that it doesn’t really matter if things do not turn out as I want them to. Very often – almost always in life – we are only able to connect the dots looking back at our lives and very rarely in advance. Sometimes we have to relax and let life unfold in front of our eyes. I have to learn to believe in my instincts and my inner-self more often and let my rational self loose a bit.  

There is so much blessing in your project, Christine! I am truly grateful that you have given me the opportunity to be a part of it. Through this journey, you gave me a gentle sign to believe in myself and know that everything is going to be just fine. Plus, not to forget, that “perfect” things are not always perfect on the outside. 

* A magyarországi Book Fairy történet már olvasható Christine blogján. :) Nézzetek be hozzá!

7 megjegyzés:

Unknown írta...

Tetszett ez a bejegyzés!

Livia írta...

Köszönöm Hella, örülök neki! Book Fairynek lenni pedig igazi élvezet volt! :)

vadászeszter írta...

És semmi sincsen véletlenül:)

Unknown írta...

what a WONDERFUL story- it was meant to be :)

Unknown írta...
Ezt a megjegyzést eltávolította a szerző.
Unknown írta...

~ When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade. ~
Dale Carnegie


You did your best! :)
Ittam a soraidat, mint valami fincsi limonádét!!

Unknown írta...

Hihi, jó ez a mondás. :))))