One day at channel 7 in Sydney, during my rare and prized opportunity in doing an internship there, while balancing my Journalism studies at Macleay College in 2009, Barry Humphries was also there.
I was excited just knowing he was in the same building. It was only for a short interview segment to promote his latest project. I didn’t know if I’d get to see him.
I was walking towards a producers’ row of collaborative workstations on the open plan floor above the live set — one of about twenty similar workstations throughout that huge hub used by an influx of staff and stars for their contribution (not like mine..born of misalignments and self-neglect, t o one or more of that network’s nationwide TV shows, some among Australia’s highest ranked and popular — when he came into my view. I’d never seen him in real life before.
He was wearing loose, smart attire, and seemed to be a bit like a Buddha or high-ranking Buddhist monk in that his steps were gentle and he had such an extraordinary depth of spirit it was almost as though he was floating.
He was about ten metres in front of me, walking from my right to my left, in the direction of what would create the horizontal part of a ‘T’ with me being the vertical walking equivalent.
A few seconds in, he turned his head sharply to his left … away from feet direction….sensed me?? and locked eyes with me—intensely. He proceeded to hang with my soul like that, walking still in that said ‘T’ direction, and from the moment he did, he got me. His entire being got my entire being. It was like nothing ’d ever known.
Whilst in this laser-lock of our eyes for this magnificent stretch of time, the sum of both my physical and what I then considered as my entire non-physical self, felt profoundly greeted and nourished with recognition, including some parts for the first time. It’s like all the lights went on. I’ve never felt eyes as knowing and far-seeing.
He aligned with and shone a spot light on my worth. Maybe like all our human exchanges could be in a perfect world. I wondered then as I do again now in writing this if it was telling of a (his) spiritual genius or at least in part another breadth of knowing garnered and gained throughout his flamboyantly outlandish, at times self-destructive, and altogether masterfully led life. Yet the cause as marvellous even left alone, as it’s what it gave. Being both timeless and tiny. A life for a moment. It’s breadth in full. No need for more, the smallness of words or anything else.
An internal hell I was in over those few years. Swimming often in choppy shallow shores, not in the tranquility of my depth. Yet his bullseye took in that entire ocean, and in that moment I felt no suffering. Though without precisely knowing how hellish I felt on this one day other than a then-typical thwarting pain of far-removed, what can be said of our connection, is that he and I were in a different orbit to our surroundings.
I wrote the foundation of this story when about to begin reading his autobiography ‘More Please’.
A captivated fan of his feisty, far-reaching, comedic signature and outstanding brilliance; a soul connection recognised from our encounter, and now a deep excitement to learn more about this incredible human…whom I wonder (and hope) will pop in for a moment’s visit, in spirit, while I do.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing and completing my, and with it authentic, experience of this. Every string of words, bound with heart in its intention to share an example or a reminder to anyone who might gain from it: of how a touch of magic or stroke of luck may be found within any time or place, and even feel more pronounced or favoured within such harder to handle ones. Those ginormous or seeming to be mere glimmers of light which sometimes can take us by surprise.
To me it’s of significant importance and a true treasure to be acknowledged for and to acknowledge one’s core amazing self no matter how contrastingly foreign, distant or dark, one may appear at the time.
I say speak up for yourself from love, remain open to magic and possibilities, take the guidance of your shiny soul. Stay grounded while honoring yourself, love, and help love sparkle further from every single time you allow your own unique joy-signature to create your moments, day or night, empowering, fully embracing and with it lighting up your priceless worth.
Namaste.
