Some days ya just gotta play!

Because we got up so early yesterday morning -- to take the 5:20 am ferry to the airport and put our daughter on the plane to New England -- I overslept a bit this morning. I still managed to get a cup of coffee and some reading and meditation in before church, but the poetry blog was a quick rendition of my experience meditating, and the prose blog -- well, it's after 4 and I'm just beginning.

But that's partly because on Sunday mornings I go to the 8 am service with my artist friend, Mary, and after church we go out for coffee and talk about the sermon and about our week, our art, our kids -- whatever comes up. Today Mary mentioned a problem she was having with the edges of a picture she was working on, and I just had to tell her about aluminum tape, which I found at the hardware store yesterday.

And I, in turn, have been taking a collage class, and had just gone out to buy some gel medium and gesso, some stamps and fluid acrylics, though I've not had a chance to work with them yet. So we agreed I'd come by her house with all my goodies -- her kids were away for the afternoon -- and we would play with art.

So we did: my aluminum tape made a great border for her painting, especially after she painted it with some iridescent green and copper paints. And I practiced with all my new toys, including that aluminum tape, and created the sort of odd creation you see here.

I'm not sure it has anything to say about anything; I just let it take me where it wanted. You can see that I'm a bit timid; I played it safe in a lot of ways. But it was a great way to spend the afternoon, I learned a lot, the conversation was lively, and now, tonight, I get to sit down with my husband and watch the Oscars.

It was a delightful way to get through my first big empty day -- which turned out to be a wonderful, full day. And I was pleased to see how just playing, working with art and light and color, feeds my soul.

So, what are you made of? What feeds your soul? What does a play day look like for you -- and when's the last time you set aside all your shoulds and just played? I hope you'll take the time -- a bit of a sabbath, actually -- and say yes to what calls you. Who knows where it might take you!