“The universe loved me enough not to give me what I wanted so I could find out what I really wanted.” ~Agapi Stassinopoulos

The first time I remember becoming aware of Agapi Stassinopolous was when I saw a picture of her falling backwards onto a couch wearing a red dress in sheer bliss on her Facebook profile. I knew nothing about this woman, but I knew I wanted to know her.

And of course, as luck would have it, I found out that I would be speaking along with her and an abundant handful of other impressively inspirational folks at the Hay House Ignite conference coming up in March in San Jose (and again in November in New York City.)

I could go on and on about how warm, loving, genuine, hilarious, and contagiously joyful Agapi is (which you’ll see for yourself when you watch our interview below.) Since you’ll get a taste of it yourself, though, I’ll stick to a few juicy bullets on Agapi as an appetizer. Agapi is:

• The author of Unbinding the Heart: A Dose of Greek Wisdom, Generosity, and Unconditional Love, just published by Hay House this year
• A regular contributor to The Huffington Post
• Not only Greek herself, but also an expert on the Greek Gods and Goddesses and how we can use them to enhance our daily lives
• Very close with her sister, Arianna Huffington
• A trained actress (she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London)
• Beautiful, inside and out

My dear friend, and previous Glimpse TV guest, Rochelle Schieck introduced Agapi and me and I was thrilled to have the chance to chat with her for Glimpse TV this past weekend. I walked in the door of her apartment and she immediately offered me lunch (so sweet!) and our conversation ran the gamut from love to spirituality to generosity to money to fame.

Tune in for this special Valentine’s Day episode of Glimpse TV to learn how to unbind your heart, a secret technique that Agapi uses to feel more free (she very rarely shares this with the public!), how acting in a bus changed Agapi’s life, and more. Then check out the links below to get a copy of Agapi’s book, connect with her on Facebook, and attend one of the many amazing events she has coming up to promote her book. I may see you at one or two of them!

Tweetables from this episode – simply click to share the love!

“We don’t have to wait for anyone to come and give us permission to have our gift.” ~ @agapisays w/ @katenorthrup on #GlimpseTV http://tinyurl.com/753rgw2

“Life is right now.” ~ @katenorthrup w/ @agapisays on #GlimpseTV http://katenorthrup.maryweise.com/?p=1620

“Don’t ever rush to decide on something.” ~ @agapisays w/ @katenorthrup on #GlimpseTV http://katenorthrup.maryweise.com/?p=1620

“I just give myself permission to trust.” ~ @agapisays w/ @katenorthrup on #GlimpseTV http://katenorthrup.maryweise.com/?p=1620

“Being still and calm is a great gift to ourselves and others.” ~ @agapisays w/ @katenorthrup on #GlimpseTV http://katenorthrup.maryweise.com/?p=1620

More Agapi:

Click here to buy Agapi’s new book, Unbinding the Heart

Click here to connect with Agapi on Facebook

Click here to connect with Agapi on Twitter

Click here to visit Agapi’s website and get your free guided meditation

Click here to RSVP for Agapi’s event with Deepak Chopra and Arianna Huffington in NYC on Wednesday, Feb 15th

Click here to RSVP for Agapi’s teleseminar with Hay House on February 22nd

 More thoughts or tips on opening your heart? Leave a comment and let us know what you’re thinking and feeling!

And then sometimes believing it’s all meant to be is not so easy.

On Thursday night at 2:00AM I somehow managed to erase all of my video footage from the past year from my hard drive and external hard drive. Then I proceeded to empty the trash. A combination of being overtired, multi-tasking, and being a little bit giddy after a fun evening out led to my “accidental” erasing behavior.

Every episode of Glimpse TV that’s not yet been edited and published (of which there were at least ten), every Team Northrup success story and testimonial, and every minute of footage of every presentation and seminar I’ve given this year….gone. And entire year’s evidence of transformation and great content erased.

So what’s a girl to do when faced with sudden, abrupt, and uninvited letting go?

Being the dutiful Aries I am, I sprung into action immediately. I Googled “restore emptied trash Mac” and found a great article on Squidoo that gave me a step-by-step protocol to follow. I obediently downloaded the recovery software and paid $99 for it. I followed the steps to recover the data. It didn’t work. I took my Mac to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store. They told me they couldn’t fix it. I bought a new external drive to save the recovered files to (another $104.) I tried my scanning software again, spent 24 hours scanning my computer, and then found that none of the recovered files were useable.

Finally, this morning I hauled myself to TekServe to see if the cute computer nerds up there could fix it. After scanning and questioning and investigating, the guy told me they might be able to recover some of the data, but that it would take more than a week and it would cost me $860. So at 10:00AM I said, “F*ck it! I’m letting it go.”

The universe must be up to something that I’m not in on.

I’m about to say goodbye to life as I know it and live in the vast unknown as I embark on a road trip indefinitely in February 2011. I’m selling my apartment. I’m getting rid of most of my stuff. I’m giving my two websites a face lift. I’m restructuring my company. And I’m completely, and sometimes terrifyingly, aware that I have no freaking clue what my life is going to look like a year from now…or even two months from now. My life is under construction and there’s dust everywhere.

It’s a times like this – when we inadvertently erase our hard drive, have a laptop full of irreplaceable photos stolen, lose a box of memorabilia in a move, have our childhood drawings ruined by water damage in the basement, etc.-  that it’s good to believe in something bigger than ourselves. It’s at times like this that I wonder how people who don’t believe in some kind of God even get out of bed in the morning. It’s at times like this that I’m incredibly grateful to my mom for raising me to believe in God/Goddess/fairies/mermaids/divinity/Universal Power/talking trees/etc. It’s at times like this that I realize that the universe must be up to something that I’m not in on (at least not consciously.)

There are no accidents.

While communing over hot cups of Yerba Mate in stocking feet the morning after the “big erase”, Gabby Bernstein reminded me that “accidentally” erasing my hard drive is most likely a sign to move in a new direction with my content. Earlier in the day before I trashed all my video interviews and seminar footage I got the insight that as much as guest content is great, my readers actually want to hear from me and hear what I have to say. (Thank you Bindu Wiles for saying this in your interview with Satya.)

Is it a mistake, then, that just as I’m about to launch into the unknown on a journey about freedom that I would “accidentally” trash all my unpublished content? Nope. There are no accidents. Miss Bernstein is right: Time for a new direction. Time for more of me and less hiding. Enough with thinking that my guests have more to say than I do. Enough with thinking I’m not enough.

My apologies to all the Glimpse TV guests whose interviews I lost. I trust that when/if we meet again to re-shoot, we’ll be even more brilliant and say even more life-changing things. (Plus, with the money I saved not restoring my lost data I’ll have a higher quality camera to make you look and sound better.)

In the coming months you can look forward to more delicious, practical, and scintillating content on the art, science, and practice of loving life, it just may have a different flavor. I’m taking the “big erase” as a sign and I’m currently recalibrating. Stay tuned for what emerges from this pregnant pause.

And now I’d love to hear from you:

• Do you have any stories of loss that turned out to be a blessing?
• Is there anything in your life that you think should have turned out differently than it is? Can you think of at least one reason why it’s “perfect” that it’s happening exactly as it’s happening? (Get a free audio of my mom and I leading you through “Finding the ‘Right’ in Every Situation” by joining my list.)
• Where do you stand on the belief that everything happens for a reason?
• Anything you desire to see from Glimpse TV or any of my content now that I got the memo that it’s time to change directions?

Leave a comment. I’m seriously interested in what you have to say.