Karen Parkhurst, Walking In The “Fantastic Place”

“Whatever is wrong with you, is so right for me”. What is wrong in being black, Jewish, immigrant, blind, deaf or needing a wheelchair? The blind see the world’s beauty through music, deaf listen to poetry through paint, and the disabled strive to overcome. That was exactly what Karen did at the Happiness is the Road 2008 tour gig in Bournemouth, when she went in her wheelchair. Breaking paradigms, challenging physics, being “Brave”, parading “Sympathy”, Karen let Marillion music embrace her soul in celebration of a inseparable love.

“I want to take care of people”, that is the nurses dream. The eighteen year old Karen was no different. In 1983 when she started her RGN course, all she wanted was to dedicate her life to bring comfort to those in pain. What kind of human being is that? Someone capable to transcend selfishness, individualism, and who face the pain as a “Fantastic Place” for development. When the young Karen met Marillion through her roommates’ cassette two things became clear: in her soul she was already a nurse and Marillion arrived to stay.

Opposites may attract but in 1992 a meaningful coincidence, made two souls became one. The Marillion synchronicity crossed Karen and her husband’s way and their world was “Made Again”, moved by “Seasons End“ and “Holidays In Eden“. Dressing themselves with the grace that only love can bring, three years later they were married, bearing as witness, Marillion music as their faithful companion.

Some things, are written in our destiny lines to give us the opportunity to find meaning, reason, inspiration, love and gratitude in this life. It can be through love or pain, which generally carry us to a significant change. Some find it through a spiritual journey, some with a loved one’s death, some with dip in the sea and some with physical challenge. When destiny challenged Karen with the physical pain and illness, her spirit “Neverland”. Why her? All she wanted was to help others, to ease their pain and now she was the one under it. Some wanted new shoes, she wanted to walk independently again “Under the Sun” and have a normal life. Some wanted to learn more, she wanted to understand. Some wanted the silence, she wanted to be heard. Some wanted the superfluous, she wanted “Faith“. To ease the pain of the ones we love, we would do anything and Richard, Karen’s husband, spread Marillion music around every second of her life in that moment. Unfortunately, her soul could not answer the call at that time. Then several years later in 2008 destiny insisted in opening Karen’s door to real life, the “Beautiful” life inside her. In that moment a journey took Karen “Out Of This World” into a spiritual revolution where she discovered the “State Of Mind”, that would change her life forever. Diving in the blue of her intimate, flying in the sky of her mind, finding “Faith”, choosing “Essence”, winning the “Don't Hurt Yourself” battle, she said “Thank you Whoever You Are” and released her heart.

And so with a new love for life and an understanding that it’s what is on the inside of a person that matters, Karen is going to make the journey to Holland - yes “Happiness is the Road”

Karen Parkhurst Website 

We would like to thank Karen for allow us to  tell  her beautiful story.