Starbucks: How It Became A Spiritual Retreat For Michael Gill

I had to run to my computer and write this blog after watching Michael GIll on CBS's Sunday Morning program. 

When I finished reading Eat Pray Love I thought I had reached the top of the mountain when it came to inspirational stories.  But, today Michael Gill took me to new heights.  I haven't read the book yet, but have no doubt whatsoever, that Michael was on a path that the universe had in store for him all along. A path we will all go down as part of our own spiritual journey.

What I heard this morning was how an affluent man fell from grace.  And, how that experience opened his heart, allowing him to experience a new and profound kind of joy.

Michael Gill is the son of Brendan Gill, the renowned writer who for 60 years was with the New Yorker. Following in his father's footsteps Michael went to Yale and from there went to work at J. Walter Thompson, then the world's largest advertising agency.  He lived and raised his family in a 25 room house in Bronxville, an affluent suburb of New York City.

Michael was living a life of privilege but at at 53 it all came crashing down around him.

He was let go from his job after 26 years. He tried to start his own consulting firm, but it failed.  He had an affair which ultimately ended his marriage. And just four years ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Michael had hit rock bottom.

Desperately trying to find some comfort, he headed back to his old neighborhood in New York City. A place where he had once felt loved and appreciated.  When he arrived he looked around and noticed a brightly lighted Starbucks store.  He walked over and sat down.  Michael had no way of knowing that Starbucks was hiring that day.  A woman walked over to him and asked if he wanted a job.  He said yes.

So picture this.  Here's this wealthy, highly respected man who is now serving coffee and taking out the garbage at Starbucks.  How many people could have gotten through that momentous deflating on the ego?   For Michael it was his savior - his triumph of the spirit.

One of Michael's daughters suggested that he keep a journal through this transition and it became the backbone of the book he eventually wrote.  It's an amazing story, so amazing in fact, that Tom Hanks has bought the movie rights.

Here's something that is becoming more and more obvious to me.  In order to achieve a new level of awareness, a connection to true joy, you have to open a new door and let another close behind you. It's all about letting go. I know that's hard, but I think that if we don't do it willingly, circumstances will arrive that make the choice more obvious.

Just like Michael, each one of us is going to have our own story to tell. And, the common thread running through all those stories will be the "moment of truth."  The moment we finally learn what our soul has been trying so hard to teach us.  However that happens, whenever that happens it will be the defining moment that finally sets us free.

Comments

[cary]

How pathetic!
Gill's higher power is Starbucks.
Anything to make a buck!