inspired

how often do you sit next to someone on an airplane that is A) cute and B) interesting? hardly ever. for me, never. monday, i was blessed to sit next to a truly inspiring individual who also happened to be very easy on the eyes. when i saw him walking down the aisle, i thought "damn, he's cute. hope he sits next to me." how many times has that happened to you and then the just keep walking? well, lo and behold, he sat in the empty middle seat, right next to me. my first thought was "great, i look like crap today. no make-up and bad outfit." oh well.

he was on the phone when he sat down, saying something about getting to a show in time. of course that piqued my curiousity. was he a somebody? he sure had the image with his long dreads, hip hat positioned just right on his head, and good looks. when he got off the phone, i decided to engage.

"do you have a show tonight or something?" i questioned.
"yeah." he responded.
"oh, are you a musician?"
"well, i'm actually a spoken work artist."

huh! i engaged more, asking him all sorts of questions like where was his show, what kind of spoken word, where did he live LA or NY, etc, etc. turned out, this guy was a very interesting individual and i was totally into his story. apparently, he used to be a graphic designer for the fashion industry. when a tragedy struck 3 years ago, he was on a train and wrote a poem about it. he said he'd never written a poem before in his life. for some reason, he decided to take the poem to the nuyorican poet cafe for an open mic night. he'd never been before and had never performed in front of people either. he got up, did his thing and got a standing ovation. and after that moment, his life changed. he quit the graphics thing and became a professional spoken word artist. and he was actually on his world tour, having just been in hawaii and LA for events. pretty friggin cool and truly inspiring.

this man had a good aura around him. he had a truly kind spirit and i was riveted by his stories. i was so curious what his performances were like. i shared some stories about myself as well. we got into my grandmother's death and how i was there with her. i started to cry. to a virtual stranger. he had nothing but the right words to give me back. saying how when his brother passed, he felt his spirit enter his body and that he was doing his thing now for his brother.

i told him about a funny thing that happened on sunday in LA. i was driving around with amy to a neighborhood i'd never been to before. when i looked up at the street sign, it said Virginia St... my grandmother's name. funny i'd lived in LA for all those years, had never been to that hood and had never seen that street until that day. a couple hours later, we were in venice, desperately trying to find parking. when we came back to the car, we had parked right under a street sign Virginia Court. another sign i'd never noticed before. 2 in one day. kinda trippy.

my seat partner told me that it's funny how if you're open to it, you'll see little signs like that all the time. he said when he looks at his watch, he always catches 3:30, his brother's favorite number. another little sign. i felt so blessed to have been next to this man. to talk to an inspiring soul and be inspired myself. oh and i did see his performance on his myspace site when i got home. all i can say is, the man has serious talent. i'll be excited to see the real deal in person.

we traded information and i will plan to go to his show in march. i'll have to tell him then what a lovely and lucky experience i had on that flight. blessed i am, blessed.