An Angel Story: From Mexico to Westchester!
Earlier this year, during a trip to Mexico City, I stumbled upon a delightful little bookshop, a few blocks away from a tattoo artist who I enjoyed chatting with and got temporary tattoos from. Amidst the mostly Spanish collection, my sons and I located only a few shelves with English books. Spotting A Little Bit of Angels by Elaine Clayton felt particularly serendipitous given a pattern I had been noticing lately. Since the end of 2019, while recuperating from a knee surgery, I’d begun randomly spotting 11:11 and 1:11 on clocks. At the time, I had no idea these numbers were referred to as angel numbers, believed by some to be a sign of spiritual guidance or reassurance.
So, picking up this book was a simple act of following my curiosity, something to read at night after long, hot days of exploring the vibrant streets of Mexico City.
A few days into our trip, my husband Prashant and I decided to visit El Bazar Sabado, a lively Saturday market known for its wide array of arts and crafts. We had a specific goal in mind: to find a painting for a particular wall spot in our Westchester home. Our strategy was divide and conquer–we decided to browse separately to cover more ground and save time, agreeing to call each other if we found something we wanted the other to really look at.
Not long into our search, Prashant called, asking me to come see a painting he really liked. I walked over to his side of the park and he pointed at a large, vibrant piece of art of a woman with striking purple hair, green eyes, and – wings! An angel! Prashant, who shares my love for bright colors, hadn't noticed the wings though. The artist’s daughter, who spoke English (unlike her Spanish-speaking mother) explained that her mother had named the piece "The Angel of Mexico” — part of an ongoing series she paints of angels.
The synchronicity of finding an angel painting while thinking of and reading about angels leaves me with a tingling, mysterious feeling of glimpsing something lingering just beyond our five senses. But it could just as well be a serindipitious blurring of reality. After all, we tend to see what we imagine, don’t we? I don’t know the answers for sure, who does? However, I’m drawn to pioneering Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s descriptions of the collective unconscious. Jung saw angels not just as literal beings but as symbolic representations of inner psychological processes, embodying the individual's quest for meaning, spiritual connection, and inner harmony.
Still, to me it’s ironic and amusing that Prashant, who is generally skeptical of such things, was the one to discover the angel painting. And that regardless of him being oblivious to any mystical connotation, we both love its bright colors, and enjoy seeing the paintings on our walls.
The Angel of Mexico now hangs, framed and accompanied by another piece we purchased from the same market—a whimsical piece of art of an acrobat balancing upon a tiger-like cat. These two artworks, so different yet complementary, make me smile, and I love watching how the sun falls on them. To me, they’ll remain as a reminder of our adventures, and of unexpected magic serendipitously encountered .
My little angel story also reminds me to keep an open mind and heart, to embrace the unexpected, and to find joy along the journey as an art collector, and in life. Coincidences, whatever they might be, encourage me to remain curious, to seek new experiences, and to trust in the synchronicities that guide us in subtle yet meaningful ways if we pay attention.
As I stand before the Angel of Mexico and the acrobat on the tiger-like cat, I am filled with gratitude for the whimsical, colorful threads weaving through our lives. We just have to continue to keep our eyes and hearts open to stories, memories, and reminders of the beauty, joy, and thrill of following our curiosity and embracing the unexpected.