nathalie pelletier

My son, Alex, loves to play drums and  he is constantly tapping his hands on any available surface.  Sometimes it grates on my nerves, but unless I have a headache, I never ask him to stop because I love that he is expressing himself in a creative, albeit noisy, way.

The other day an old friend of mine mentioned that he was going to see Stomp, and though I had heard of the show, until I looked at the website, I had no idea just how perfect it would be for Alex. Ticket prices started at $95 and for 3 of us that’s a bit much considering I didn’t know if they would really like it. Upon further internet searching, I discovered that the Fox Theatre sells tickets the day of the show for $25 if you come an hour before the performance. Now that was a price I was willing to pay.

We decided to make a day of it. We got to the box office around 12:30, got the tickets, and decided to get some lunch. The first place suggested was a mile walk away. They were  serving a buffet brunch that didn’t interest us, so we went back to the other restaurant- right across from the Fox.

At first glance, Best Steak House didn’t seem like the cleanest place to eat, but there was already a fairly long line inside of smiling people, so we figured it must be good. Everyone in line was wearing their sunday best. There is a Huge Baptist church on the corner, so my guess is that this diner is a popular place to congregate after services.

A few minutes went by before I noticed a man from behind the counter shouting, “next”, and people were yelling back their order one at a time. I’m not a yeller, so I got a little nervous for my turn. “Next”, he shouted to me. “sirloin burger platter”, i said. “I can’t hear you”, he yelled back. Gulp. I repeated the order laughing. The ladies behind me suggested that I get the “tip potato’s”…these are diced potato’s with onions and cheese for which you tip $1, lol. I got them. When a regular suggests something, it’s always wise to follow the advice.

We got our food, found a seat, and immediately noticed a guy standing at the end of the counter…he was tap dancing.  We had locked eyes when he first walked in, but I had gotten distracted by the ordering thing, so it wasn’t until this very moment that I got a good look at him, and naturally, he looked like a nutter. Handsome, yes, but who dances in a diner? Man, I sure can pick them. He kept looking over at me, smiling, and tap dancing. Kook! He got his order to go, tipped his head to me, and left.  Emmy, Alex, and I talked about the strange incident throughout lunch.

Forty minutes later we were inside the Fox Theatre marveling at it’s beauty. We found our seats and the lights dimmed. A figure appeared, he was strutting to center stage, making music with a brushing broom…the 3 of us looked at each other, and at the same time exclaimed, “Oh my God it’s him. The guy from the restaurant.” That’s right. The smiling nutter who was tap dancing in the restaurant was none other than, Justin Myles, star of the show.

Today is the anniversary of the day I got married 22 years ago. We are no longer married, but there was synchronicity in our meeting that bears telling.

We met in line for beer at a party. I wasn’t going to attend, but ended up going because a girl I hardly knew said she would go with me. Jerry had come to the party because his friend was DJing the party.

In line for beer, Jerry tapped me on the shoulder and said, “hey, we’re all in line for beer”. He thought I had cut in front of him. I retorted, “good, then I’m in the right place.” I guess he liked my sassy attitude because we talked for the rest of the night and he took my phone number. The next night he called while I was DJing at the radio station- KYMC. After a few minutes of talking, he asked what song I was queuing up and I told him, “Pride In The Name Of Love”. He said, “that’ll be our song”. Cool, I thought.

A year later we were engaged and planning our wedding. We thought it’d be fun to get married on the day we met, March 30, but that day was booked at the church, so we took the next Saturday, April 4.  About 6 months after our wedding, I was listening to the radio, and the song “Pride In The Name Of Love” was playing. I’d never really listened to the words until that day.  Bono sang:

Early morn, April 4, shot rings out in the Memphis skies…

I felt a chill, and tears came to my eyes because I knew that it was destiny that I met and married Jerry.  Destiny in love doesn’t mean forever; it means that it’s the path we have pre-selected to experience whatever lessons need be learned, and live through events- such as the birth of 3 children together- to prepare us for another pre-selected path which we will travel, together or alone.

Do you notice the synchronicity of events in your life that lead you to a job, a person, or particular event, that transforms your life in some way?

I have met so many wonderful people through the internet; some relationships don’t move beyond online communications, while others, I have had the great pleasure of hanging out with them in person.

While I was in London last July, I had lunch with my friend Tom, whom I’d been talking with for 5 years. He was just as sweet and thoughtful in person and our afternoon was spent as if we were old friends catching up on the latest news in our lives- which I guess we were.   He is a barrister- you know, the ones that wear those adorably goofy white wigs. He also raises money for an organization that runs an after-school boxing program for boys. I love that he is passionate about helping people. Plus, he fences…that is so cool, don’t you think?

The next day, I had lunch with another dear friend, Andrei. He’s an amazing photographer who has just recently opened a studio…check out his website. Andrei was exactly as I had imagined he’d be…a gentle soul who’s love for his art is exhilarating. Even now, each time he writes me on facebook he always asks…”so are you packed to move here yet?”  And somehow, that simple sentence inspires me to keep going after my dream/ goal of living in London.

That evening, I met up with someone who is dear to my heart. Fred made our first meeting so special. We met under the clock at Waterloo station, then went for a stroll along the south bank, followed by an evening talking and drinking stella in a little pub next to St. Paul’s. Over the years we had talked so often about how great it would be to just be able to sit across from each other and have a drink, that when we were finally in that moment, I stopped to take a picture…we toasted the occasion, lol.  Fred and I had talked online and on the phone for about 3 years before we met, and though meeting someone for the first time could feel awkward, it was as if we were just meeting  for another Thursday night chat up. What I love about Fred is the fact that even though he comes from a prominent family, he has no airs about him. He is genuine. By day he is a carpenter and by night, he is the most incredibly talented musician.

So what the hell triggered all of these memories to surface? Tonight i was searching through the archives  of  lastfm.com, and on a whim I typed in the name his  band ‘A Personal Victory’. They’re a newish band from London, so I was surprised and delighted to find their music listed! Then as I listened to a couple of songs, I thought about London, and the rest unraveled from there.

Now, Go have a listen to Fred’s music.

I accidently left this candle burning all night by my bedside. When i awoke, i found that it had turned into a beautiful little piece of art instead of a melted mound of wax.

I loved almost every aspect of owning a store; the ordering, displaying, training, marketing, and even coming out with my own line of aromatherapy candles before the craze hit. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was having to babysit some of the employees. I know you can’t expect that much for minimum wage, but when someone just stands behind the counter while you work, you get annoyed.

I ran the store for 6 years and went through 2 pregnancies during that time. When I was 7 months pregnant, a couple approached me to buy the store.  It was a sweet deal.  I was ready to  stay home and raise my children and the $120K profit from the sale would allow me to do that for a few years.

20 years has passed since this picture was taken and so much has happened in my life,  and as I look at the girl in the photograph, it seems like that was a whole other lifetime…and it was.

]]> http://pranabody.com/a-lifetime-ago/feed/ http://pranabody.com/my-first-french-kiss/ http://pranabody.com/my-first-french-kiss/#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:15:57 +0000 nathalie http://pranabody.com/?p=107

Remember the movie, “The Blue Lagoon”? Oh man, I was so infatuated with Christopher Atkins after watching some of the risque scenes in the film. I was only 14 at the time, but come on, the hot boy was naked!

Back in the summer of 1980, I heard on the radio that there was going to be a premiere party for the film at a local Hotel and that Christopher Atkins was to attend. Right away my brain started scheming as to how I could meet him. It didn’t take long for me to approach my sweet dad with an idea, and even though I bet he thought it wasn’t possible, he agreed to it.

The plan: My dad would pretend to be a photographer for a local newspaper and tell them (whoever that may have been) that I was a model and he needed to get some shots of me with Chris.  hahahaha, so crazy now that I think about it!

The party: I got dressed in my favorite outfit (i hate to even describe it because even though my memory still holds it as pretty, the written description sounds horrendous) and we drove to the hotel. My dad spoke to a lady at the entrance and unceremoniously, she escorted us over to Christopher who was surrounded by people. She whispered in his ear. He looked at me, winked, and came over to us.

“Great,” he said, as he flashed a big smile, “let’s get some shots.” The rest is kind of a blur to me; even now I can’t believe my temerity.

I do, however, remember that we did a few different poses and that he told me I was beautiful. Then, to my great delight (and my father’s disgust) he kissed me. Not just a little peck on the lips. He full-out french kissed me. My dad abruptly cut in, “okay, okay, I think we have all the shots we need. Thank you very much.”  I was dazed and exhilarated…I had just had my first french kiss and it was from Christopher Atkins…too cool. I only wish I could find the proof sheet with all of the photo’s on it.

Joe told the 4 steps to take to release and when I did them. Maybe it was the placebo effect, but I really believe that it worked in that moment. Of course, as my day went on the effects wore off and a couple of days later, I was again feeling stagnate with my creativity.

Thursday night I was talking with some people on twitter and I got a DM (direct message) from a man, who ‘followed’ me a few days before, thanking me for the personal note I’d sent saying that I liked his site…it was a blog about manifestation. I must’ve been feeling vulnerable because the next thing I knew, I was DM’ing him back with a quick note about feeling stagnate…normally, I don’t open up to complete strangers about such personal matters.

We exchanged a few more DM’s in which he tried to narrow down the cause of my feeling unproductive, to which we discovered (no surprise here) that the only thing holding me back were my own thoughts. I have the time to do what I need, I have the knowledge, and I have the ideas, but lack of a formulated vision and a back-log of negative feelings are keeping me from advancing (that, and maybe a bit of complacency).

The new friend then asked for my email address so that he could send me a part of a presentation he’d been working on for Joe Vitale. I thought, ‘cool, he either knows Vitale or he’s a nutter’. I betted that he knew Vitale, and sent him my email. What I received blew me away.

I opened the powerpoint attachment and saw the exact words that Vitale had spoken during his interview on the podcast I’d listened to a few days before. Amazing!

Life is full of synchronicity…I see it all of the time and it delights me.

Snowy outside, but cozy warm indoors with a roaring fire to roast marshmallows.