While at the London Heathrow airport and waiting for my flight back to the States, I drew this staircase not to far away from where I was sitting. I could tell the focused state of mind I had developed while traveling in Greece was still present. My mind was crystal clear and I felt so relaxed. I wish this state of being could last forever but I know my cell phone will need to be turned back on, email will have to be answered, and my life will return to normal. On the other hand now that I have some perspective on my life, this is a good time to see the changes that need to be made in order to add more meaning and focus. Above all, it’s important for me to take the time to slow down, be apart of the world around me, and draw.

Mary Shelley, who wrote the book Frankenstein, regularly visited her mother’s grave in the St Pancras Churchyard in London. Mary never had a chance to know her mother as she died of septicaemia a few days after Mary was born in 1797. Although her father remarried, Mary despised her stepmother for favoring her own children over her, and the peacefulness of the graveyard provided a welcome escape from the tense atmosphere back home. Mary would often pack a lunch and spend an entire afternoon at the grave eating, napping and reading her mothers books.

On occasion, Percy Shelley, Mary’s future husband, secretly met her at the gravesite. As their affections grew for each other, it was here that the two confessed their love for each other. Percy was already married, with one child and another on the way.

While on a layover in London on my way to Greece, I had just enough time to visit Ms. Goodwin’s gravesite. While there, I wondered around the churchyard and imagined Mary’s peaceful afternoons. Sitting next to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin’s grave as Mary had done so long ago, I created this drawing in my Moleskine sketchbook.

Although Mary Goodwin’s remains were later moved to Bournemouth, England in 1851, her original tombstone still remains.

With only a few minutes to spare before we had to head back to the airport, I had about one minute to sketch the old hotel where I use to work. Memories of the place flooded back to me while I drew. This hotel was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had, even to this day. I keep telling myself that one day I’m going to write a book about my experiences there and maybe someday I will.