The Intentions of God

Having spent most of this week catching up from my days of playing both in Toronto and at home, I am happy to say that I and my family survived unscathed. It was a stretch for me to take 2 days away from my family and work, and then return home only to turn around and leave for another day of adventure. I left last Thursday to visit my beautiful friend in the big city. She filled my creative cup by taking me to visit various unique art stores that Kingston simply does not have. I was in heaven as we spent an hour at the Paper Place on Queen Street, and, ultimately, won the prize for the most bought goodies. The rest of the weekend was spent chatting and catching up with a good friend and her family.

As I sat on the train heading home, I wondered why I had committed to taking a 6 hour photography class the next day. I started to feel the anxiety of having to drag myself out of bed at 6 o’clock so that my arthritic body would be able to move with a little more ease for our 8 a.m. start. Looking out the train window, I felt a little twinge of guilt knowing that I would be leaving my family for yet another day of tomfoolery.



Luckily, these days, I am quick to dismiss a useless emotion such as guilt. It is an old patterned emotion that comes to the surface when I am tired and not “awake”. Being aware and awake to “who I am” is the key when trying to decipher the difference between reality and nonsense. Worrying about what other people will think of me is a waste of time and really spoils all the fun, doesn’t it? Done!! I had felt the guilt, recognised how ridiculous it was and moved forward to replacing it with the excitement of spending time with more friends and learning new things.

And so, I got up the next morning and slathered on the sun screen and hat, grabbed my camera and drove downtown to meet Tracy Olan, my new favourite photographer and friend, for a day with “Women and Cameras”. Tracy not only taught us all how to use our cameras and do great little tricks with them, but she developed a rapport of camaraderie and an ambiance of creating. By the end of the day, we were all feeling very smart as we had learned so much. We were empowered by our knowledge and motivated by our unleashed creative spirits. New friendships were formed and we drove ourselves home with the grace of fine artists.

When I got home, I was greeted to a clean home, laundry up-to-date and smiling faces. No one complained that I had been gone and they were all keen on seeing my photog creations. I was inspired and feeling oh so blessed to have spent a day creating and playing. I realized that I could have stayed home and spent the day filling it with the mundane tasks of everyday life. That day would have come and gone, and nothing would have changed. Instead, I chose to do what God intended us all to do more than anything else; enjoy every day and fill it with as much joy as possible.

http://www.beautifuldayto.com/