Some say coincidence where others say miracle \u2013 I fall in the miracle category. Coincidence just isn\u2019t that exciting to me . . . I prefer to believe that everything happens for a reason.<\/p>\n
Recently, I had a conversation with the universe about a book idea and whether I should pursue it. (I can\u2019t say my idea because I don\u2019t think it was . . . I believe that it was given to me, not created by me.) Part of the deal I made was that I would do all the work and the universe will take care of the results, whatever they are intended to be. I agreed to stop \u201cthinking about\u201d whether I should do it and just freaking do it. Once that was settled, the tiny miracles started to happen. In fact, one big fat miracle happened the day after my latest blog post about this \u201cturning it over.\u201d<\/p>\n
A little back story is necessary at this point. The book that I am researching is about a capital murder case in the late 80\u2019s. As part of my research, I want to interview all of the players: the judge, the defense attorneys, and the prosecution team. In this case, there were two judges because the venue of the case changed. The judge that was actually going to hear the capital murder case just happens to be one of my law school professors. (He\u2019s now a federal district judge.) I figured it wouldn\u2019t be too hard to get in to see him. Not so much. I called a few weeks ago and he\u2019s in the middle of a 12-week trial. His assistant tells me that \u201che doesn\u2019t remember much about that case and doesn\u2019t have time to get together \u2013 sorry.\u201d I\u2019m a bit taken aback \u2013 he doesn\u2019t remember much about this case? I don\u2019t think so . . . he\u2019s just putting me off. But there\u2019s only so much you can do to get a federal judge to meet with you so I shelve that idea for later.<\/p>\n
Fast forward a bit \u2013 this past weekend I travel to Phoenix to visit a college friend that I haven\u2019t seen in ages. (It\u2019s her birthday this weekend, it\u2019s warm in Phoenix, we needed to catch up . . . perfect weekend to get away from Dallas and visit her.) On the flight from Dallas to Phoenix I notice this man that looks a lot like the federal judge. I\u2019m thinking \u2013 how can this be? He\u2019s in the middle of a 12-week trial? And how could he possible be on the same plane as me<\/strong>? Not having a chance to say anything on the plane, I haul ass off the plane and practically run to the baggage claim to see if I can catch up to him. (He was on the first row of economy and I was back near the door \u2013 yes, I will help others get off the plane in exchange for a lot of leg room.) I spot his bright green striped shirt and walk up to him \u2013 \u201cJudge?\u201d I ask tentatively. He turns around \u2013 oh, yes, that IS him and this is a big fat miracle.<\/p>\n After catching up with him and his wife, I mention that I called him a few weeks ago to talk about the case. He says, \u201cYes, I was putting you off because I don\u2019t want to talk about that case.\u201d (Of course he remembers this case! How could he NOT remember this case?!?!) He complains that it was such a sad situation that he doesn\u2019t want to talk about it. \u201cBut, it turned out ok in the end \u2013 it all worked out. It\u2019s an incredible story!! I have to tell it.\u201d So, he agreed to talk to me and gave me his business card. Now, if THAT isn\u2019t some encouragement from the universe, I don\u2019t know what it could be. I\u2019m taking that and running with it as far as I can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some say coincidence where others say miracle \u2013 I fall in the miracle category. Coincidence just isn\u2019t that exciting to me . . . I prefer to believe that everything happens for a reason. Recently, I had a conversation with the universe about a book idea and whether I should pursue it. (I can\u2019t say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hz1R-2x","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":120,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/17\/just-write-it-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":157,"position":0},"title":"Just Write it Down","date":"February 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Every since I can remember I have wanted to write a book. \u00a0 I guess that's not an uncommon\u00a0goal for us humans. In my daytime career, I read and write a great deal, but it does not satisfy my creative needs. I imagine it\u2019s a bit like trying to scratch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":423,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/12\/reading-corner\/","url_meta":{"origin":157,"position":1},"title":"Reading Corner","date":"December 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever thought about why we read books?\u00a0\u00a0Sounds odd, I know, but sometimes I think about how much time it takes to read a book and have this fleeting thought \u2013 is it worth it? Well, I would say that most of the time my answer is a resounding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Photo-May-24-2-11-29-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":185,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/21\/let-it-go\/","url_meta":{"origin":157,"position":2},"title":"Let It Go","date":"July 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s hard for me to believe that it has been so long since my last blog post. Time has flown by. Choosing a topic to write about given everything that has been going on in the past few months is not an easy task. We\u2019ve traveled to Ireland and had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/IMG_3094-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":171,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/30\/enjoy-the-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":157,"position":3},"title":"Enjoy the Journey","date":"March 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In researching for the book, Get Down (this is what I\u2019m calling the book so I don\u2019t just call it \u201cthe book\u201d), I figured it would be a good idea to speak with the \u201cplayers,\u201d such as the prosecution team, defense counsel, judges, defendant, and possibly the police officers involved.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "R\u00c9FL\u00c9CHIR"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6161-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":100,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/13\/hotel-v-vrbo-in-new-york-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":157,"position":4},"title":"Hotel v. VRBO in New York City","date":"October 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Thankfully, as of the writing of this post, I have (finally!) secured our accommodations for our trip to New York on October 22. \u00a0Everything else - plane tickets, check; tickets to a show, check; reservation for dinner before the show, check - was done BEFORE we even had a place\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_3524-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":82,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/02\/they-say-caw-in-boston\/","url_meta":{"origin":157,"position":5},"title":"They Say \"Caw\" in Boston","date":"September 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Boston is next on the travel agenda. \u00a0Over the next few posts I'll talk about how we arrived at the decision to go to Boston - no science, just happenstance - as well as some ideas of things to do that we've been given by friends. \u00a0And, of course, pictures!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/IMG_5521-e1441199704846-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159,"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}