after some serious wind & rain during the night, when i woke up this morning, the sun was shining and the sky was blue! on top of that, i had a whole day in front of me… my day off! at first, i thought about staying home & having a repeat of tuesday’s day of candles, coffee, & writing all day (and what an awesome day it was!). but, during lunch with my love, she asked me what i was gonna do the rest of the day. hmm… i decided that i just had to go outside and enjoy the weather.
it was as if we got a little taste/reminder that spring would actually come one day soon! while the breeze was still chilly, the sun felt warm on my skin and the beauty of the day erased any thoughts of being cold. nope. i wasn’t cold. i just walked and soaked it all in. i decided to walk by the river & carry the camera with me, using the afternoon to do some things that i love to do, but never really have time for. so, i walked & walked. stopping very often to snap a shot here & there. and i smiled or said hello to almost everyone i passed, receiving smiles & hey’s right back (which is quite rare here, since most swedes keep to themselves, not making eye contact, or chatting it up with strangers – a little different than the southern USA). but, today, it was amazing. perhaps i got so many positive responses because i was walking around with this giant grin on my face… so the friendliness i encountered very well could have been people laughing at me. but, i’m gonna keep telling myself that there was some human connection happening… you know, like if you give off positive energy, you receive it back.
the more i walked, the closer i got to a favorite cafe of mine, i decided to go in for a little personal fika… and spend my quiet time for lent there. i ordered some hot chocolate and went to the top floor (which is unbelievable. i wanna move in and have a loft apartment there. hehe.). it was a popular place to be today, filled with mostly college students, i think. some of them were doing a video project & interviewing each other. a few other groups of people sat & chatted. i settled into a chair, put in my headphones, and sipped on my yummy drink. it was the perfect setting. i was finding quiet time in the midst of everyday life.
in my reading, i was reminded of the importance of being a messenger of peace, hope, & love in life… to all i meet, in whatever way or whatever place i meet them. the thing is, this is where religion gets a bad wrap. some religious people (ok. many of them.) seem to want to force a message of “love” (or their message of hate & closed-mindedness, i would say) on other people, insisting that they follow rules, commanding people to do certain things, believe certain things in order to be considered “good”. and that pisses me off. you can’t command people to love. and how arrogant and shitty is it to say “my way is the right way” to another person? think how much better would it be to accept that we are all different and just love each other simply because we are all humans? (notice i didn’t say like. liking someone is completely different, and we don’t have to like everyone we meet, but we do have to respect all, i believe).
instead, if i, if we, want to share a message of peace and hope; if we want to love others, fight for equality, and create a world of justice & harmony, then the most effective way to do that is to motivate others by the way we live our lives. making some statement of belief or pressuring others to believe/think/act the same as we do is most ineffective, in my opinion. instead, the loudest way to shout out about love is actually not even with words… it’s the with everyday moments of our lives.
as i looked around at the people sitting near me in the cafe, as i smiled at those i passed during my walk, as i chatted with a man about the birth of the little swedish princess today, and as i visited my love, her co-worker, & some of the youth, i was inspired to think again of the best way to share love. the best thing to do to give off positive energy, make people smile, let them know that they are worthy & beautiful just as they are. sometimes it is necessary to use words to share these thoughts with others, but it’s so easy to show love just by living our everyday moments with the love we want to share. practice what you preach. walk the talk. be the change you want to see in the world. and, as one mystic saint once said… “go & preach the gospel (share love) throughout all the world. if necessary, use words.“
ok. of course i have tons of pictures to share with you from today of the beautiful city where i live, and i’m gonna do it right now!
our apartment building (the yellow one) and a stunning blue sky!
stopped to talk with a man near here. we were looking at the flags & chatting about the baby princess.
proud swedes!
i pretty much just love this apartment building. gaaahh.
the river is thawing!
the cafe/bakery.
see what i mean… coooozy.
can’t you just see this space being an amazing loft apartment?! those floors… i’m dyin’.
outside the cafe. in a few weeks/months this area will be filled with chairs & tables, people, musicians…
i’m all smiles today!
i hope that your thursday has been super great too. now i’m gearing up for a quiet evening alone (it’s all about balance, remember?) before my love comes home. a glass of wine, maybe? some music? a movie? i’ll see what mood strikes me… what are you up to tonight? how has your thursday been? by the way, i haven’t said it in a while, but thanks ever so much for reading!
sending you love & peace.
I always enjoy reading, the pictures and constant smiles 🙂 My Thursday was good! It’s a balmy 75 degrees here and I ran in the meadow at work and rode the motorcycle.
Lanie, is that you?! I’m guessing so b/c of the motorcycle reference. 🙂 75 degrees sounds divine! Have a great weekend!
Thanks for your sunny pictures! Here it is so overcast as to be almost oppressive. We are long overdue for some snow and hoping to see some of the white stuff tonight. Might be a little overly optimistic to hope for a late school start (amazingly zero so far this winter, last year we lost over 6 days total of school–many late starts, early outs and 4 total snow days).
My Thursday hasn’t been too bad, thanks for asking! Looking forward to an all school day meeting with fellow school nurses from other districts tomorrow. It is so nice to talk to my peers about common issues!
Hope you had a great Friday, Barb & that you saw a least a few flakes! I always say, if it isn’t going to really warm & springy, then it might as well snow. Hehe! Hope you have a fabulous weekend.