With things opening up and people feeling more secure, I’ve been able to participate in a few ladies nights and resume some social activity that used to seem completely normal. I even organized a ladies night recently.
My Aunt’s 70th birthday was coming up and I knew I wanted to paint her a Betty Boop rendition. I really do enjoy painting, even though it’s been about a year and a half since I did that, and I’m not that great at it.
I took advantage of having a bunch of supplies and invited quite a few of my friends over. We had a great night. About 10 of us painted whatever we were inspired to paint, we ate homemade food, and enjoyed each others’ company.
Some of my friends have amazing talents that they don’t even recognize in themselves! So does my cousin. She painted a version of Betty Boop in Oklahoma, and I painted mine in Vegas. We gave them to my Aunt together at her surprise party.
Although my girl kind of resembles a South Park character mixed with Stewie from Family Guy, my Aunt loved her. My cousin’s picture turned out flawless!
Since I’ve shared this much, I’ll go ahead and share that me and my mom traveled to Oklahoma on a Friday (which was my Aunt’s birthday) and got a hotel. We drove to her son’s house the following morning where we met up with both of her children, a few of her grandchildren, and a few of her great grandchildren. It was phenomenal.
She thought she was coming over for my cousin’s little girl’s 4th birthday party, but we were all there for her. When she opened the door, she kind of froze and stared at all of us, then asked, “What are we doing here?”
She later shared that she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her because she recently found out she has cataracts. That tickled me.
I’m realizing that I am incredibly fortunate for the life I’m building for myself. I was able to take off for a few days without worrying about much of anything to spend a few days with my Aunt, my mom, my cousins, their kids, and even some of their kids.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few material things I still desire, but they aren’t nearly as important to me as experiences, especially experiences with the people I love in such a profound way. Maybe this is because I’m older, maybe I’m maturing or growing, or simply just understanding life a little differently due to all of my experiences thus far.
To embrace something I enjoy (like painting), even though I’m not the best at it, would have been completely foreign to me years ago. I didn’t like to do things I wasn’t good at because I felt nothing but judgement and lack.
Now, I’m able to relax and enjoy it, knowing that I’m more gifted in other areas, and that’s okay. I hope you take the time today to do something you truly enjoy (as long as it doesn’t hurt you or anyone else).
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