A lovely free Saturday in front of me and I decided to go to one of my favourite places in London: PortobelloRoad. I’m actually there already a few times a week, but I don’t care. I was just gonna get a falafel wrap and a Starbucks and go home. When I was there I thought it would be nice to eat the wrap at Starbucks and just see the people walking by, doing there thing. I love that. I was lucky enough to sit in my favourite spot. In the corner, in front of the window. At first there were 2 girls sitting next to me and then an older couple with the cutest little Dachshund. They left and a man, not very tall, took their place. I noticed him straight away. I could tell I like him without even looking in his eyes. He was wearing simple dark clothes and carried a backpack. Little grey curls were coming from under his black hat, where very likely dreadlocks were hidden. I think he was around 60 years old, but apart from a few wrinkles around his eyes, his skin was smooth and glowing. He looked healthy. It was something I really noticed straight away.

It was nice to sit next to him, I felt some sort of connection with him. He drunk his beverage and he ate a cupcake I recognised from the Portobello Wholefoods shop. Just before he wanted to leave he looked at me with friendly eyes and said: ‘So I’m good now’ and he referred to his empty cup. I reacted with: ‘Oh good, I hope you enjoyed it, what did you have?’. He had tea he said and this is how we started to talk. First about tea and then about healthy food and lifestyle. It turned out he ate 90% raw, after he did a full year of being completely raw. And he ate everything organic. We talked about the benefits of all our favourite fruits and vegetables, about herbs and spices and he knew so much. And it was all from experience as he lived this healthy lifestyle for over 15 years.

He was telling me about his family. That he is the only one of his big family who lived in London. His father lived, together with some of his siblings, in Trinidad, where he was from. He had more siblings living in Canada, where also his mum is based. His parents were both a hundred years old and still very healthy and energetic. He traveled a lot to see them and also he went to Dubai a few times already for the Formula 1. Not something I would of guessed he was interested in.

We had a good laugh as well and talked some more about what made us happy. What makes us natural high?! For me that is animals, nature, rain, love and kind people. He loved to be out and about in the crowd and he always hoped to bump into somebody he didn’t see in years. When he told me that his eyes were lighting up. It was obvious that exactly that gave him a lot of joy. It’s those little simple things what makes life beautiful. We concluded we love life.
He then admitted he chose this seat as he felt comfortable sitting next to me and that he wanted to say something to me from the start. He just wasn’t sure if I was up to it as I was sitting all by myself and he thought I was maybe waiting for somebody. But he couldn’t leave without saying anything and that’s why he decided to say something before he wanted to leave. I was so amazed by him telling me this, as I felt the same the whole time.

Almost 2 hours later we got up and went outside. It was just starting to get dark and there was a little drizzle. We had to go opposites ways, so I gave him a hug and he said he hoped we’ll bump into each other again one day. I walked away and I felt the drizzle on my face.

I absolutely love moments like this. This is exactly what gives me my natural high. When I walked into the already silent part of PortobelloRoad there was a man sitting on the pavement, hanging on the wall. He was actually sitting in an awkward, uncomfortable position, but he was playing the saxophone and though I’m normally not a huge fan of the instrument, he was playing this amazing piece of music. The tune was going straight through my body. And that was it. The inspiring conversation, dusk, drizzle and music.. I felt euphoric! This for me, is happiness. I gave the musician a few coins as a sign of gratitude. I truly believe this all wasn’t a coincidence, but a day given by life itself. Great timing, great circumstances. A masterpiece!