Hello Dalai

While editing the August issue of canvas, a very interesting moment occurred while conversing with our copy chief, Lucy Saunders. I asked her to write about it for canvas’s blog, and here’s what she had to say:

Celebrity sightings are no big deal to us New Yorkers, and believe me, I’m not that easily impressed. But I had the best encounter ever the other day—and it was all because of canvas.

I copy edit the magazine, and have numerous conversations with editor Diana Murphy while it’s being put together. We had a talk scheduled recently while I had to be out and about, so I found a quiet corner right next to a side exit in the lobby of the Hyatt on 42nd Street. As we were chatting about one of the articles, a hotel employee approached me and said they were “moving a dignitary” and would I mind staying where I was for the next few minutes? Sure, no problem, I told him.

Well, the next thing I knew, I was five feet away from the Dalai Lama! And still on the phone with Diana, but not talking about work at that moment! I’ve heard him describe himself as “a simple monk,” but he has some kind of “energy field” around him that’s so strong I almost felt as though I could see it! Hard to describe, but he seems like the calm at the center of a storm. I literally got chills when he passed by me.

So, thanks Diana, because I never would have been there for that incredible experience if I hadn’t been working with you.

—Lucy Saunders, canvas Copy Chief

Lucy mentions she got chills when the Dalai Lama walked by, and I can tell you that I did, too, the moment she mentioned who the passing dignitary was. It seemed so fitting that while we were discussing copy edits on the upcoming article we’re running on taking “inner vacations”—meditative relaxation techniques to promote inner peace and well being—that the world’s most famous living embodiment of peace and well being should cross our path (well, hers, literally and mine via our cell phone connection).

To Lucy’s dismay, she didn’t get a photo of the Dalai Lama as he walked by (my fault as she had her hands full of layouts with copy fixes and couldn’t reach into her purse for her ever-handy digital camera quickly enough); but at least she had me as a witness to share that special moment—one we’ll both surely remember for the rest of our lives.

And it’s me who should be thanking you, Lucy, for sharing this brief encounter and helping canvas mind our Ps and Qs, no matter where you are or what celebs you may be brushing shoulders with. We appreciate your continual hard work and dedication, and are so lucky to have you as part of the canvas team.

—Diana Murphy, canvas Editor in Chief