Run and Cafe Philosophique…

I am on the train to Gatwick from Eastbourne…

I have had the richest most fabulous 24 hours… I love and treasure relationship and it has been my lifelong joy – to connect, to engage and to love.

I have less time now than when I lived in England to physically enjoy the connections that were forged through weeks and years of sharing time and experiences… And so when I have 24 hours where I am able to catch up with those I love, it is sacred space to have spent this magic pocket of time …

When I am with someone, there is nothing else… And because I don’t experience time in the way in a linear way exactly; each space is an extension of the ongoing dialogue that was started many years ago…

I have just been dropped off at the station by my friend Haze – we had a wonderful lunch at the Grand – my second home when I go to Eastbourne… Although of course I don’t have a first home!

We have known each other 24 years and there is an implicit trust in our connection, the never ending conversation… Even though we hadn’t seen one another since July, our ‘charlando’ took off like it had never stopped, as if we had just drawn breath for a moment – or taken a sip of coffee – and then on we went.

And yesterday evening I met there with Janey; we have a relationship that is both professional and personal and the contexts for each allow the other to be more expansive, more profound, limitless.

I have always loved to meet in the Grand hotel in Eastbourne as it has privacy within its comfy chairs and secluded corners, discreet and attentive service…. While Janey and I were together a woman approached… ‘Julia’ she said, I didn’t immediately recognise her, but she introduced herself ‘Robin’ and immediately I was back to our encounter ten years ago… We met, because I interviewed her for a podcast. We enjoyed a connected and special two hours…. She follows my exploits now, she said – and our chance meeting delighted us both. I gave her the foot jewels that Wendy had given me, and she said that she would like to write about me…

The serendipity felt wonderful, exciting…

This morning I rose early and was outside at 6.30am to meet my friend Matt to run… We covered ten miles and the time passed in a flash of our continuing dialogue, a friendship built over the past 6 or 7 years; the dialogue never ending… There may be what we perceive as pauses, but time does not exist and love is infinite and all encompassing…

There is no limit to love, or time – and so the dialogues are all existing on different threads and the more present we are to ourselves, connected to our core – our truth – then there is limitless capacity for love and relationship.

True love is infinite, eternal never ending… It never disconnects, judges, is jealous or unkind… It simply keeps growing and growing, expanding as the time and relationships expand and grow…

After breakfast I walked barefoot through the town, a little chilly, but still enjoyable. A man stopped me to give me a warning about the dangers of not wearing shoes. I listened to him, and thanked him – but his words didn’t resonate with my feet. They have another way and it is their way I follow…

My friend Jim was parking his bike outside Urban ground coffee shop – our ‘coffee crawl’ started there and finished in Beanzz… There was a time when Jim and I spent 12 hours a week together…

All of it running! Training for ultras… ‘I wish we had recorded our conversations’, Jim mused today…

But they are carrying on… We pick up where we left off because of the sharing we had then, the understanding, the exploration; the stage is already set to talk some more…

Café philosophique instead of run philosphique! Although we agreed today there is more running yet to be done…

 

I have been running all of my life – it feels I was born to run. In the running step I experienced freedom and my true expression. I came to see that I needed to ‘get out of the way of myself’ and let my energy flow through the running step; allow it to express itself in the dance and the motion of running.

I have also worked in the lives of others as a guide, counsellor, healer and teacher for over 40 years.

I lived as a nomad for 6 years with my husband Anadi, but my inner voice brought me back to the UK in May 2019 and I have been living and working and running in London since then….

Julia Chi
Teacher of Life Skills
www.JuliaChiTaylor.com
www.BodhisattvaDiary.com
+44 (0)7908 239 464