I have wondered where to start with this article as alchemy, transforming self, has
been so present in my life – thank goodness!
I'll start part of my story from 6 April 2012… I had just boarded an Air New
Zealand flight to Auckland New Zealand. I was returning home from 15 years
of living, teaching and travelling in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe.
I was both excited and tired. The last 12 months in the UK
had been a challenge as I had considered deeply which path
was I to take.
Did I stay with the life, and the many beautiful friends I had established in the
U.K., or did I return to New Zealand with the promise of work and warmer,
stable weather? I had this deep inner voice calling me to return home.
I snuggled into my flight seat, happy and excited about my new life and the
prospect of being back home in my beautiful country.
On arriving back in New Zealand, it pretty quickly became apparent that I was
actually without work and very much flat broke.
The Organisation owner, who had offered me work, had flown out
of NZ the day I arrived! The promise of accommodation turned out to be,
that I was being moved constantly back and forth from one home to another at
3 – 4 day intervals.
My life experience has taught me and proved to me
that the best way to cope with challenge is to live as
totally as possible in the present moment and trust.
Certainly without this life training, experience and philosophy, my
situation would have possibly made taking a jump off of Auckland
Harbour Bridge very attractive.
After all my years of experience, even then it was a fleeting thought. Not one I
would act on, but, I must admit, it did come into my mind. I was in shock,
emotionally pained and terribly distraught.
As one friend consoled with me at the time, "Marlene, I can't even imagine how
you could have coped or felt. It would have been like me arriving in the middle
of London, only to find I had actually no possessions, no money and no job."
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