This week, I practice the words of Macrina Wiederkehr and I’m “leaving my head for a while on a journey to my heart.” I’m always surprised how I’ve lost the way but my Father knows and brings me home again.
Sometimes the journey to the heart takes a different path than I expect. I would do well to move to the rhythm of the moment rather than try so hard to find familiar landmarks. Perhaps my Father wants to show me a new way.
The anxiety that comes on vacation is real – This is your chance to relax and recharge so you better make the most of it! says the world. We have our ideas of what vacation ought to do, what our money ought to buy, as if a destination could give us the kind of peace our soul most longs for.
All vacations are not created equally. A house with 14 people is not a spiritual retreat. (I’ll share more about that this weekend). It’s good to know what this time is for – for joy, for play, for reconnection with my people. What a gift.
So this week I’m keeping the laptop (mostly) closed and instead I’m posting a lot on Instagram because it’s the prettiest medium around and I can take it with me. One way to see things differently is to take a picture of it. I know that sounds weird, but something happens in the framing, in the kneeling down for a better view.
While it’s possible to miss moments because of too much documenting, I think the bigger danger is in not recording them at all.
Over the years, taking photos has become a kind of remembering, a kind of worshiping God in a new way, if that’s not too weird to say. Writing helps me think better and photos help me see better. These days, Instagram is a place where I learn to see. You can follow me there (emilypfreeman) where I record moments of the days as they happen, write a word or two or even a few lines of reflection.
I have some favorites I follow on Instagram as well – @thenester, @gracelaced, @myorangepocket, @benjaminhole. So many others. Actually maybe I’ll share more of those on purpose soon and ask for your favorites, too. I have so many favorites and I’d love to find more. We can learn so much from each other.
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