For years I have wanted to find a way to pray on a daily basis. I wanted it to be simple. I wanted it to be me.
I wanted it to be something I would reach for like my toothbrush, to scrub off the plaque on my soul and let my spirit shine through me more freely. I wanted to be that person that was that devoted to a spiritual practice, and yet something in me feared I just wasn’t.
I tried just about every tool I knew—writing, a daily reflection reading, lighting a candle, playing the same song, sitting on a meditation cushion, dancing everyday, prayer beads, breath beads, mantras, rituals, you name it. I loved them all. Maybe that was my problem—I couldn’t choose just one.
I think something in me eventually gave up trying to be someone I’m not. And that’s when I noticed something magical happening. My eyes kept catching repetitions of 1s throughout my day—without even trying or looking for them. I would climb into bed and notice it was 11:11.
I would wake up in the middle of the night and see it was 1:11. A new client lead would send me an email to connect and I’d notice the time stamp was 11:11. I would get a particularly magical text from a client or a friend and notice it came in exactly at 1:11. I uploaded the final manuscript for my second book exactly at 11:11 at night. And did I mention I was born on November 1st? 11.1.
Prayer, it seemed, had found how to do me—in fact, given the date I came into this world, a case could be made for me being a living prayer. So I started to say yes to it, trusting I didn’t need to overthink it, complicate it or make it happen. I just needed to notice it and let it happen.
So if you are ever in my presence and you see me notice those ones, you will see me pause quite suddenly—maybe even mid-sentence— and pray that moment, closing my eyes, planting my feet wide, and reaching my hands, palms open, face lifted to the sky. That is my living prayer.
Want to know what these daily verses are all about? Read here to learn what inspired this practice on my birthday post, November 1st.
