My dearest cousin MJ (with whom I almost share my birthday being born just hours apart, a fact which I could, also poetically speaking, attribute our closeness up to this date) had been taking a business course in London since early November, and we agreed it would be ridiculous for me not to visit her and her to visit me while we were so relatively close on the map. We also dreamed that both Madrid and London would be fantastic locations for Zindagi photoshoots. Not to mention I was always ready and willing to escape anywhere that could possibly spark any of the joy and optimistic stimulation I was lacking during the peak of my depression. I was almost sure I would not be going back to Europe after spending Christmas break in Honduras, so I believed it would be an ideal last trip opportunity to seize. I was absolutely not mistaken; a few but remarkable things happened during the time I traveled.
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There was the inevitable touristing around (Kensington Palace, Big Ben, London Eye and all), my timeless appreciation for art museums, trying hot cider for the first time, eating local fish & chips, discovering that THE best pad thai on the planet is found at a small stand in Borough Market, and also a tough-to-get-used-to winter nightfall at 4:00 p.m.. But as life keeps proving itself, a lot can happen in such little time and London was, besides everything already mentioned, a breath of fresh air in my spiritual life and an inspiration for my creative cravings. I look back and I simply continue to see God's graceful presence and love being poured on me. MJ was attending Hillsong church in London as I did in Madrid, so I was thrilled that we were able to attend an annual Sisterhood gathering (Hillsong's women's ministry) together as well as the Sunday service in London, and I was specially blessed to have met her connection group on a Friday night where I met such incredible people from all over the world. One of the memories I love the most (besides @fayesheela and MJ's hilarious dramatic performance to the rhythm of a violinist in the tube station) is of @merckathdo, an exceptional girl originally from the Philippines, playing the guitar leading us to sing Another in the Fire and later all of us praying for each other's personal prayer requests. I remember asking my new friends to pray for God's guidance and clarity in whether I should push through a last few months of living in Madrid, or returning back home. At a point in my life where I felt like I was compromising so much of my mental health and wellbeing by staying abroad, I was desperately seeking to hear from God to know what step to take next and undoubtfully trusting He was in control in the midst of my struggles. I'll just shortly recap and share that a week later, when I was back in Madrid and just a few days before I made the final decision to stay in Honduras after Christmas break, I believe it was prayers answered when I was offered a dream opportunity for an internship at a spanish fashion firm starting January. I can't explain it, I was still on a downer and part of me yet wanted to stay in my safe place called home, but there was both peace and excitement in deciding to take it.
It would take me far too many more words to share with you how I was personally, pin-pointed touched with the messages spoken both at Sunday service and the Sisterhood conference lead by Hillsong church's senior pastor Bobby Houston, but I can surely say I received the spoken word my spirit needed, and revival started to stir within me. I believe it was one of the most significant moments that set in motion a greater deal of growth in my spiritual life for what was left of 2018 and what would later give me the confidence to get baptized in the church in January of 2019. I was drawing closer to God, and in the middle of my uneasy life situation I started to look at every moment as an opportunity to see Him and thank Him for where I was standing and learning, and all the more appreciate the gifts He gracefully continued to hand me.
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London brought me a special closeness to God, new friends, first-class tea, amazing work and personal photographs, and even the conversations MJ and I shared both during our walks and at that home in Southfields were uplifting in a way my heart desperately needed. Just as I expected, Notting Hill bursted with all the colors I'd seen in the movies, and I got to include a speck of them in fashionable photos for Zindagi. I fell deeper in love with portraiture as I gazed at the amazing works of artists in the National Portrait Gallery (bought my first Richard Avedon biography book while I was at it!). Casually popped into a small camera museum filled with all my favorite shooting tools. I gathered the courage to go up to a stranger on the street one day and asked to take her photograph, turned out she was big league model. One of our nights at home with MJ included pizza, prosecco and popcorn, and watched a movie that made us cry. I always kept an eye open at Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle in case I ever witnessed a royal moment. I felt like I was keeping a bit of princess Diana's beauty with me just by walking through her garden. I got soaked in London rainfall, I died and went to heaven in Forntum & Mason, and had really expensive Godiva chocolate ice cream in the cold. I had lunch at The Hinds Head, a Michelin starred restaurant in Bray standing since the 1400s. A bird landed on MJ's head at Kensington palace and it brought us perhaps the biggest laugh of the whole trip. There was love, inspiration, and delight wrapped in every person-to-person encounter, every place I went to, everything I heard and listened to, including the clichés that come with a magical holiday-dressed Oxford Street and British Christmas markets.
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I would have loved to finish this post telling you that while I uber-ed to the airport after midnight at the end of my trip, Christmas Lights was playing on the radio. Instead it was Midnight Train to Georgia, which happened to be equally as poetic at that very moment.
Merry Christmas and be warm! xx.
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