when was the last time you surprised yourself?

on the magic of the unexpected

One of my favorite things in the world is surprising people. and I don’t mean in the literal sense—pranks and practical jokes, that kind of thing.

what I deeply love are those little moments of understanding, the flicker of clarity that arises moments after you say or do something that just—absolutely blows someone away.

especially, especially if it’s something that they never would have expected of you.

it occurred to me this week that we surprise others every single day. and sometimes with the things we wouldn’t necessarily consider extraordinary about ourselves, either. sometimes with our presence alone.

but also. humans are such funny creatures, aren’t we? I mean, there is so much that is unexpected about people! what we say and do and give and share (and overshare) and text and create and explore and wear and spend our money on and spill the fuck forth into the world around us.

what bursts from our mouths seconds after a happy accident like running into an old friend, or when we’re absolutely smashed drunk and won’t remember.

or when we’re too young to know better, or when we’re too old to care.

so much of what we do startles and astounds and unexpectedly amazes our friends, our loved ones, perfect strangers on the street.

one Halloween when I was in college, barely a breath past twenty one years old really, I was deep in the aftermath of a calamitous breakup. still fully costumed, I was crying—that ugly post-bar crawl cry (you know the one I mean)—under guise of a gusty black rain that had seemingly come from nowhere and yet was slanting viciously down from the sky with no sign of stopping.

that Halloween I was dressed as a firefighter. (yes, it’s July and I’m thinking about Halloween. this is a thing I do, and I’ll admit to it freely now: I am one of those people that is almost always thinking about spooky season.)

by that time in the night my long curly hair was plastered-wet to my skin beneath the cheap plastic Spirit Halloween helmet, which, sure, is all making for kind of a hilarious mental image, but before I digress…

I was accompanied by two friends, and we were a bit lost and wandering the streets of San Francisco, making our way from ATM to hole in the wall spot for a slice of pizza, and then onward into the night.

a couple riding by on their bikes stopped at the light, spotting us at the intersection. and I’ll never forget what happened next. one of them took me in, soaked and battered, my heart clearly hurting, plastic firefighter helmet and all—and said:

“you’re going the right way.”

call it surprise, wonder, serendipity, synchronicity. there was nothing questioning about her tone; she said it distinctly. matter-of-fact. I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but as you can imagine, that one stuck. one could even say it felt like a sign.

I’ve always loved the exchange, the interplay, the magic of the unexpected. today, I want—I choose—to give myself that gift.

because if we can choose to surprise one another, to revel in the juicy goodness of what happens when we allow ourselves to be surprised, and if we can stay within a sense of wonder at the startling magic of our Selves, is it possible then… that we are (still) (despite it all) going the right way?

even when it may not feel like it. and sometimes, especially then.

I have a long list of affirmations that I run through on the reg, and one of the more recent morning statements I’ve been repeating lately is this: “today and every day, I allow the Universe to surprise me. thank you for showing me how good it gets.”

and the thing is, I’m allowing me to surprise me now, too.

what’s the best and most memorable way in which someone’s surprised you? and in which you’ve surprised your Self?

I’d love to know.

xx

Kimia