Midnight in Paris, Daylight at Goodwood

I was looking at the star chart (or vision board) yesterday that I created a couple of months ago, and it dawned on me that several of the pictures on it resemble the English countryside, including an aristocratic home on a hill. When I created the board I had no idea I would be traveling to West Sussex in England and staying with the delightful Duke and Duchess of Richmond. It’s interesting that I chose these pictures based on the feeling of joy and freedom I’d like to create more fully and sustain in my life, and the trip was an intensification of those feelings. It is said that a state of “wanting” or “wishing” will only bring more “wanting” and “wishing” into our lives, but if we generate a feeling state of already being and having, that’s what the universe will offer. It isn’t personal – it’s energetic. The trip sucked me out of my mundane, albeit serene and happy, existence and plopped me into a rare experience. I'm sure when I am in my 90s I will have trouble

distinguishing whether it was a dream or reality.

Goodwood Revival, the world’s most popular historic motor race meeting and the only event of its kind, is a step back into time. Lord March and his wife, Countess Janet, host the memorable event, and they seemed to manifest everywhere as they made sure their guests were content. The Saturday night gala's theme was "Space Barbarella" - the costumes were elaborate, the ball gowns exquisite, and the sets and entertainment astounding. It was a pleasure to meet Lord March's daughter, Alexandra (Atty) Lennox, as well as his sister, Naomi (Nimmy) March, at the event. The Goodwood web site describes the event like this: “The Goodwood Revival is a magical step back in time, a unique chance to revel in the glamour and allure of motor racing in the romantic time capsule of the golden era of motor racing at one of the world’s most authentic circuits. The Revival is staged entirely in the nostalgic time capsule of the 1940s, 50s and 60s that relives the glory days of Goodwood Motor Circuit. The Revival offers visitors the opportunity to leave the ‘modern world’ behind and join motor sport luminaries … in an unabashed celebration of flat-out wheel-to-wheel racing around a classic racetrack, untouched by the modern world."

This event celebrates the history of the cars as well as the Goodwood race track, once a leading motor venue in England. My brother, Derek Hill, raced Lawrence Auriana’s 1962 Maserati Tipo 151, like the pro that he is. I could hardly bear watching as he tore past weaving his way ahead of other drivers to end up in second place. My mother, Alma, was saying the rosary as we huddled under an umbrella when it began to rain and I was shouting: “That’s my brother!” The crowd was breath-lessly on edge and the exuberant announcer sounded relieved to finally have a show on the track worth detailing. A few seconds late in the pit change, they lost a position, but Joe Colasacco, Derek’s co-driver, brilliantly held on to 3rd place in pouring rain and miserable visability. I cheered every time he came around the track and had not lost ground.

While other relatives were not permitted onto the podium, serendipitously, Mama Alma – with a reputation of her own – and I were invited up as Lord March and Atty Lennox gave the drivers

their awards. If it weren’t for my mother, I wouldn’t have even been invited. Her personality plus and humor as well as deep kindness wins her many invitations despite the fact that Phil left us three years ago. We thought of him at every turn.

Derek was rewarded with the Will Hoy Memorial Trophy for the Greatest Drive in a Closed Cockpit Car. Toasting Derek and Joe with champagne on the podium was one of the highlights of the trip. Other highlights: getting to know Larry, Irene and hanging out with the team, chats with the Duke and Duchess, tea in the driver's tent with Uwe, dinner next to Alain de Cadanet, Eddie Cheever and Brian Redman, meeting Jochen Mass, dinner at Goodwood House, being chauffered in a Bentley or Rolls, strolling the countryside and petting the goats, meandering the paddock - and admiring the cars, dressing in costume, firework rockets traveling horizontally over my head at the gala like missiles, the spitfire airshows, and meeting so many people with extraordinary stories.

When I think of the theme of my blog: “Being in this Body,” I think of all the places that we go and the experiences that we have that help us to realize we are so much more than a body, and yet, the sensuous pleasures of the body are unique to life as we know it. The visuals, sounds, smells, and tastes of the trip transcended most experience. Traveling transports us out of our common experience and all that we know; nothing is the same and we are granted a new lens to see our old lives. My imagination has been reawakened, which affects everything I do. Too, my trust in the creativity of the universe and its timing is renewed. Weeks ago, I saw Woody Allen’s film, “Midnight in Paris” and while it was broad daylight in England, life imitated art as I spent a magical week living a dream.

The Depth of Depp and TMI

I am getting ready to go to England with my mother and brother, Derek. We will stay on Lord March and Lady Janet’s Goodwood property and attend a gala, teas and the antique car races. My mother and late stepfather were frequently invited to this and other amazing events, but raising two daughters, I rarely had opportunity to join them. I’m sure the event will make for a fun blog post, considering the theme of the ball is Space Barbarella. All four days we are asked to dress in 40’s or 50’s attire. Personally I would like to dress in costume daily for the rest of my life!

Recently, I watched two movies featuring Johnny Depp: “Benny and Joon” and “Don Juan DeMarco.” Both inspire the audience to live less mundane lives – to wake up to magic and the present moment. The latter questions perception and reality. What are the stories we choose to believe and how to they create not only us, but everything around us? Do our stories serve to help us feel more alive or to kill us? What if

every time we thought something we asked: “Does this make me feel alive or dead?” When does the inner critic slip in (when we least expect) and take the pen from us. Observe. Question. Consider.

Some stories are just plain funny and worth retelling, but some serve to drag us down. In retelling them we relive them. The greatest threat to our egos is to be creative and open to the unknown – to be guided by Love and the Great Mystery or God – whatever your version of that is - and to see what unfolds. How will we be used (by God, by Love, by our higher selves) in each moment? If we are stuck in past stories, we block an opportunity for a deeper exchange with the person or people across from us. An open heart will save the planet.

I look forward to this trip to England, because I don’t know what to expect; however, I am concerned about my mother. I told my friends she had experienced a “TMI.” My nurse/dancer friend, Susan, asked if perhaps she experienced an overload of too much information, or perhaps I experienced an overload of acronyms. Since going back to school for a counseling degree I have definitely been bombarded with acronyms and terms of diagnosis. People have strings of letters after their names that are a language unto themselves. And, yes, my mother could very well be suffering from too much information – she seems to have two speeds: hospital: zero mph and regular life: 120 mph. Rather, she was diagnosed in the hospital with having experienced a TIA (transient ischemic attack), which mimics a stroke and could warn of an impending stroke.

But my mother is not one to dwell in the past – not even yesterday – which has been her savior on the most part. Instead of going into the story that her high-speed life could be her demise, I am going to hold out for the idea that she knows exactly what she’s doing, and has lived a most incredible life as a result. (I can see why she admires Johnny Depp so much.) As to the question if she listens to what her body is telling her – only she can answer that.