Through the Opera Glasses - 23 - First Kiss, Destiny and Meeting God

Michelle Johnson over at Poefusion takes part in Manic Monday, hosted by Fleur de Lisa - and for today's Through the Opera Glasses I thought I'd focus my sights on her prompt.

As you may recall, I'm taking part in Kim's Blog Improvement Project, and the latest challenge is to once again shake up our normal offerings. We're encouraged to post as many different types of blog posts as we can by July 24th.

"It’s easy to get into a pattern of writing the same kinds of posts over and over again," Kim reminds us. "But sometimes it can be fun to spice it up."

Here are Michelle's prompts:

When and with whom was your first kiss?

Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

What would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

I'm going to put an arts twist on this prompt, since this is my arts feature.

First kiss - My own first kiss was with my first boyfriend, Philip. For more details, check out my story in my Naughty Meme of Firsts.


When I think of a perfect depiction of a first kiss, I can't help but think of the final scene in 1995's Persuasion.

It occurs at the 5:50 mark in the clip below.





But of course, I can't rule out the kiss in North & South.


Warning ladies - watching this scene may turn you into a puddle of goo...





Does everything happen for a reason? - Well, let's see. When I first moved to Toronto 23 years ago, I worked as a live-in nanny in the west end of the city. I went over to a movie theatre to fill out an application for evening and weekend work - at the Humber theatre - and began walking east along Bloor Street. Not west. East.

I wanted to start meeting people with similar interests to mine. I figured movie theatre people would be a good start.

Not too far along I saw a sign for psychic readings. I thought, what the heck? So I went up. I didn't keep going along the storefronts as I normally did.

The young woman read my palm, and among her observations she was adamant that my soul mate was very near. She mentioned that he wore a uniform. Since I was brand new to the city with only two friends from home also in Toronto, plus the family for whom I worked, I thought, don't know how that can be.

When I was done, I went down the stairs to the street. I kept walking east along Bloor Street until I got to another movie theater I hadn't even known about. It was the Runnymede Theatre. So I went in and applied.

I was called to start work there not long after. One of my co-workers was a very handsome usher named Brad Smith. To whom I'm now married.

I absolutely think everything does happen for a reason. In the same way that thousands of people gather for a performance at the same place at the same time, the universe arranges significant events in order to facilitate each person's potential for growth. The universe has the ticket with the date and time. It's our job to sense when the curtain is about to go up.


A wonderful film with this outlook is Serendipity.





What would I like to hear God say when I cross over? - I would like to hear: Rest, now.



A truly chills-inspiring meeting-up-with-God scene for me is the ending of The Fountain. The music really thrills me.



So... What about you?

Thomma Lyn Grindstaff says I had fun reading your Naughty Meme of Firsts. :-D

Ms Snarky Pants says I love how you met your husband! That's a great story!

Michelle Johnson says I can't believe you worked at a movie theatre growing up. I did too. But, I didn't meet my second husband there.

Identifying Life Patterns - the Hugh Jackman Way

In my most recent poem, I examined my natural attractions and repulsions to people, things and situations. It's a starting point when learning to identify patterns in a person's life, especially with regards to past life trauma and the quest to meet the life challenges presented this time around.

It's often noted in present-life therapy that people repeat negative patterns as a subconscious means of trying to deal with underlying issues. Once the 'student' is ready, a 'teacher' will come. For example, a child from an alcoholic home will often grow into adulthood choosing romantic partners that mirror the alcoholic parent. Once the adult version of that wounded child is ready, a situation will present itself - most often painfully - to allow that person to make a new choice. This choice represents the giant internal shift for that former child to rewrite his or her story into a positive outcome at long last.

These breakthroughs are never easy. The path to the breakthrough can sometimes leave collateral damage. So why is this inner knowledge so hard to find?

In my view, the greater the value and significance of the ah-ha moment, the higher the price tag.

No pain, no gain.

And there's no escaping it, either. The longer a person tries to put off learning an important soul message/lesson, the more curve balls life will throw at you. Repetitive curve balls, ones that will hopefully become obvious after awhile.

I keep my eyes and heart open to recognize the negative patterns in my own life. When I realize what's going on, I make a real effort to understand why the pattern is there, what I'm supposed to learn from it, and then to transcend my previous pattern.

I've been actively doing this for the past twenty years. Is my life in perfect harmony? No.

But I have made a lot of progress in several key areas. When dealing with trauma from a single life, it's hard enough. When dealing with past life trauma, that's baggage I've been carrying around for a lo-o-o-ong, long time. So I give myself a break and realize that any progress made is hitting the spiritual jackpot.

It's taken me two years to reveal my belief in reincarnation here on my blog. Is my fear of revealing this tied to a problem I had as an earlier version of myself? Absolutely.

Now where does Hugh Jackman come into all of this?

As a film-lover, it's easy to notice patterns emerge in the film choices made by actors and actresses. I've often thought that these repeating patterns are likely an attempt by the Universe to get the attention of the actor or actress. I presume that the issue behind these patterns is likely the dominant life challenge brought into this life by that person.

I'm going to start another feature here at A Piece of My Mind. It won't be an every-week kind of post, but will return on a regular basis.

For Identifying Life Patterns, I'll highlight the pattern I've noticed in the performances of actors and actresses. I invite readers to guess what the life challenge is for that person, based upon the issue we can observe.

Why do this? Well, I find that fiction is a safe sounding board for painful truth. It's easier to weep over a movie than it is to face things inside oneself. But fiction can also be a key that unlocks answers to questions we can't verbalize to ourselves. Recognizing patterns in films helps me to identify my own patterns when they crop up in real life.

So let's Identify Life Patterns - the Hugh Jackman Way.

Here are stills from five of his films. What is going on in these scenes? What is the dominant problem reoccurring again and again? And how would a person go about releasing this pattern once it was recognized?

























Films: Van Helsing, X-Men3: The Last Stand, The Fountain, The Prestige and X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Bobbi says Wow, Julia, this is a deep topic. You've certainly given me food for thought this beautiful Saturday morning. I look forward to more of these posts!

Apprentice Writer says I hear you on the 'sometimes easier to deal with/work through hard emotions in fiction' thing.

Thomma Lyn says Some people catch the curve balls, others miss them, and yet others pretend they don't see the curve balls at all, even when they're being pitched at their heads!