Terror Strikes Twice. [My Close Encounter With Terrorism]

On the 3rd of June 2017, I was standing on Westminster Bridge filming for my blog just as the sun was setting beneath Big Ben, the famous tower clock. It was a typical English summer day with blue sky, clouds passing by and a picturesque sunset.

Once I finished recording I then decided to take a short break and headed to a nearby cafe for some dinner.

I found a cafe that had a good outlook so I could watch the troves of people walk by. Don't know about you but I like to people watch and wonder about their lives, what they do, how's their relationships are and what their story is. Knowing I will likely never see them again.

When I returned to my hotel at King Cross, the beautiful St. Pancreas Hotel, the news alerted me to the terror attack that happened around the corner of the Themes about 3.8km away at London Bridge. 

It was a surreal moment of shock.

I stood with remote in hand learning of the horrid details of a crazed driver running over pedestrians and jumping out to then stab innocent random people. 

11 people died, 48 injured. 

I had one of those introspective life moments. London Bridge was where I was going to film after my dinner but once I finished eating something was pulling me back to the hotel.

I could have been one of those victims.

There would be no real motive for my slain just part of the chaos of the universe.

It was only a week earlier, on the 22nd May that 50 miles from where I was staying in North England a suicide bomber targeted Manchester Arena killing 23 people.

It may seem like a needle in a haystack but the heart of the nation was gripped by fear everywhere. Everyone and especially the police were on high alert.

You couldn’t escape the dark clouds that covered the continent.

Upon my departure from Heathrow Airport, London's largest airport terminal I had learned that the airport had also received a high-level threat, one more serious than what they normally get, but it was dealt with.

It’s events like this that happen outside of one's own control that shape a lot of the beliefs I have which you can see littered throughout my blogs, quote cards, videos, and writing.

Life should never be taken for granted.

Love and cherish those who you hold in your heart and tell them as often as possible. 

Create work you are proud of and that matters to you and to a small segment of the world.

Be ambitious but don't become a workaholic. 

Look after yourself first because you will be of better service to others as those who get the sickest are the ones who are martyrs for everyone else. 

You are in control of your feelings but practice letting go to the moment. 

They are more than throw away one-liners or cute anecdotes. 

They literally help me keep it together in life’s rawest and hardest moments. 

I live them and I encourage you to shape your beliefs into a way that allows you to follow your bliss; as Joseph Campbell put it.

Because one day, and one day soon, it will come to an abrupt end and you will have no more time or capacity to execute on your heart's desires. 

Vaughan.