Worldly Guidance 1

It’s true what they say: the world really can guide us…

There’s something I’ve haven’t written about here in my blog, since arriving. But now that I’m on the subject of the book, I’m on a roll and I have to share this…

I’m back tracking 4 weeks. I arrived here at my apartment and met the other foreign teachers, who are now more than just colleagues  Happy happy happy.

Anyhow, one of them in particular, Mike C - who I’ve mentioned a few times before (the British teacher) - told me about his profession. He’s a therapist…I asked what he was specialized in… Or no… sorry, HE actually told ME what his ‘area of expertise’ was… And I got such a shock… He told me that back in England he’d been working for 7 years with sufferers of eating disorders… Well, holy holy holy moly moly moly!

It was the freakiest coincidence ever. Just picture this: Me, just after finishing a book on anorexia, willing to get it published, only 3 hours after arriving in China and I’M SITTING BESIDE AN THERAPIST FOR EATING DISORDERS! A mere 6 other foreign teachers within this company and 1 just so happens to be of this profession! To further express my excitement: Mike C is only the 2nd person for me to meet, so closely, so personally and SO RANDOMLY who’s an eating disorder therapist! Now please, don’t tell me that this isn’t just ‘pot-luck’… Really, the chances are way too slim for this to have happened.

So, what was my reaction when he told me of his profession back in England? I froze. He asked about me and what I’d been doing. I told him of my little Ireland adventure, and about the book, but not about the topic of the book. I figured: “I’ve just travelled 8300 km’s, just sat on a plane for 17 hours (with a few stopovers) and I’m jetlagged… this is too much for me to take in, so best to wait until the time was right to maybe tell him…”

Has that time arrived? No, it hasn’t. Have I been ‘keeping it a secret’ and been ashamed to open up to him? Huummm… Not too sure. He’s such a great guy, we get along really well, and I love that we go to dinner a few nights a week (with a few other teachers) and chat and analyze the world. It’s great and I feel so comfortable. But the topic of my book hasn’t come up… I might be making excuses here, as to why I haven’t told him… But then…why would I feel it necessary to tell him? Because I know for sure there’s a reason for our paths to have crossed like this… Am I reading too much into this coincidence? I actually think I might NOT be reading ENOUGH into it! Haha… Otherwise I would have done something earlier and I’d have opened-up to him. It might not matter though, if I do or don’t open-up to him. Maybe him being apart of these few months of my Chinese experience, is for me to still keep my focus on the book…