Rue Sansregret

It was mid-November, and I was walking back to the Gîte (Bed and Breakfast) from the metro station in East Montreal. It was late and dark, and because I was in an unfamiliar place, my wits were extra sharp.

I was in Montreal for pre-orientation training through WUSC/Uniterra for a posting I was offered in Botswana. I had been wrestling with the decision to uproot my life of ease and comfort, and the routine and responsibilities that come with it, to explore the unknown.

I thought I’d let the “universe” know I was open to signs pointing to the course of action I should take. My senses honed in on sounds of footsteps running up the street, sirens echoing in the distance, and the odd shifts in light from the residential walk-ups.

About 10 minutes into my walk, a car pulled up beside me. It stopped, the driver’s door opened, and a box was placed on the top of the car. A mangy figure with wild hair and exaggerated features, barely discernable in the dark, then popped up beside the box. Without stopping, I slowed my pace and tried to focus in on this somewhat alarming character. “Bonne soirée, Madame !”, he said. “Bonsoir, Monsieur”, I replied, with a giggle, realizing that he was not a manacing being, but a clown, returning home from a gig.

Waving good-bye, I carried on a few steps, then noticed an oddly placed street sign at the entrance of a dark alley. I peered down the alley, lined with graffiti painted walls and garbage bins, with no apparent end in sight, and then up at the sign, which read “Rue Sansregret”.

When I asked the universe for a sign, I didn’t expect it to take me quite so literally.

What could I learn from this experience ? You help me decide:

a) that if you choose to travel down an unknown path, you should do so fully committed and without regret.
b) that what may seem strange and scary at first encounter, could, upon closer inspection, be something fairly harmless.
c) that what you choose to see as signs, and how you choose to intrepret them, are true indications of your inner desires.
d) all of the above.
e) other.