Abundance of U Village

INsPiReD • Part 4 (Final)

I was starving.  So after church I headed to University Village.  The church was very close to the University of Washington, and University Village seemed like a good place to find some food. I had never been there, but my niece, who works close by, has talked about “U Village” many times.  

Saying I was surprised is an understatement.  Thinking I was going to find a few restaurants filled with collage kids and a couple of used book stores, instead I saw a shopping and eating mecca like I’ve rarely seen before. It was a village alright.  A village of the most exclusive shops and boutique restaurants this side of LA.  It didn’t take me long to realize there was a lot of money in this area. And, a lot of people.  I drove around for 30 minutes trying to find a empty parking space.

One word describes it - ABUNDANT.  On another day that one word might have been decadent or even hedonistic.  But today, after the inspiration of the service at the Center for Spiritual Living, I was feeling the spirit of abundance, of everything.  This place seemed perfect.  In that moment it represented a mindset that I would like to hold on to.  Instead of feeling “oh, this place is out of my league and pocketbook”, I was feeling the pure possibilities, visual beauty and casual, open vibe the place emanated.  There wasn’t any of that “hoity-toity” attitude at all. This place was filled with people who believed in abundance and it was a given.  A reality they all participated in.  Or it seemed that way.  Sure I could easily look beneath the surface and find the mass consumerism culture that works at keeping people disconnected from one another.  But I didn’t want go there.  I was really feeling something different today.

I found a place called Eureka where they provided “the enlightening burger experience”. Which I could not resist!  The people were friendly and warm.  The food was fresh. I ordered a naked hambuger made from local, grass fed beef, and sweet potato fries drizzled with honey and cinnamon salt. Very yummy! I had a window seat and spent my casual lunch watching the people of U Village.  It was an education and an inspiration.  There was a feeling here that I had never experienced before.  It was a collective consciousness of ease, openness and abundance.  No one seemed stressed out or pissed off because of the crowds or limited parking.  Everyone just flowed, shopped and enjoyed the experience.  Families, singles, couples, groups of people, enjoying a Sunday together.  Kids eating ice cream, wearing spring clothes and skipping down the sidewalks. Maybe it was the tulips blooming and the sun shining?  Something powerful was happening here and I liked it.  It was a feeling of abundance that I haven’t had in a long time, so I was soaking it in! 

It made me think of a quote I had heard years ago. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”  It’s true.  The way I was looking at this experience was far different than the way I would have looked at it just months earlier.  Then I would have felt uncomfortable, inferior, poor and out of place.  Today, I felt part of the experience, confident, affluent and abundant. I was part of the bigger picture. That’s because I made a conscious choice to say open.  To let myself feel the abundance, not the decadence. To get in touch with my own personal worth, instead of what I perceived as lacking. To grasp the fact that I am rich. Rich compared to nearly half the world that lives on little more than $2 a day. Celebrating my freedom and the life I am living that allows me to travel, spend time in interesting places, visiting people I love and enjoy, and creating each day as I choose.  That is true abundance.  How could I have ever felt differently!

Yes, it is a crazy shopping mecca. But it was more than that for me today. Today I allowed myself to experience the ABUNDANCE of U Village and hold on to some of it as my own.  It was a good day!  

In the spirit of abundance and Big Love,