Sunday, after performing a Summer Solstice ritual at the river, I was tired and sat down on a bench in front of Murray’s Cheese Shop in the Village.
As I looked down, I noticed a wallet on the ground.
I picked it up. Inside were nearly 25 cards: credit cards, a Social Security card, medical cards, tax documents. It felt like someone’s entire identity was sitting in my hands.
I walked into the shop to ask if anyone had lost it. No one had. I left my phone number, just in case.
At first I thought about dropping it off at the local Police Station, but something kept pulling at me. This person needed their life back. So, I went through the wallet carefully, found a name and an address, searched online, and found a phone number. I called and left a message.
Thirty minutes later, a man called back. It was his father’s wallet. He asked if he could come get it, and I told him I’d leave it with my doorman.
Then, around 10pm, my phone rang again.
It was Charlie. He is 89 years old. He lost his wife five years ago, and he spends a lot of time near that shop because his cousin owns the store next door. I think he finds comfort in the familiar.
He said he couldn’t believe someone had returned his wallet. That he had lost faith in people. He said “ You made my Father’s Day.”
We don’t have to run a company or write a big check to change someone’s world. Sometimes it’s as simple as picking up a wallet.
Noticing someone who needs help. Deciding to go a little out of our way for a stranger.
That is a ritual too! A sacred one.
Every small act of kindness sends a ripple we may never see. Charlie’s call reminded me of that. We all have the power to restore someone’s faith, in people, in life, in the goodness that still exists all around us.
This is the work I am devoted to: helping people reconnect with what matters, through ritual, intention, and the simple power of showing up.
My work is about clearing what's in the way: the old stories, the inherited beliefs, the energetic residue that keeps you looping in the same place. Once that clears, alignment happens naturally - with your purpose, your intuition, and the life you're actually here to live.
With love,
Barbara