My Scottish niece and her boyfriend were in town for the weekend so we brought them to a neighborhood arts festival and had a blast walking around and looking at everything. I was so excited to see that my favorite local artist had a booth. I had purchased a piece from her a few years ago at a folk art festival and fell in love with her because she kept all her money in her giant bra and was the happiest most inspirational woman I had ever met. Her work is a wonderful combination of found objects and inspirational messages.
This one was destined to be mine
Mary is a very large black woman with equally large hair and dark sunglasses. She also wears headphones which I'm not sure are connected to anything. I spotted her right away, went over to say thank you and brought my niece with me so she could take our picture.
As we were walking away she said, gesturing to her ample curves,
"honey, I know you is tryin' and remember, you don't have to lose it all"
I was floored. My niece was in shock. How did she know??? Granted, you could assume that most larger people are trying to lose weight but I kind of have this (maybe) crazy feeling that she's some sort of guardian angel and that message was made for me.
I told the story to my my mom and she suggested that maybe I'm more open to those messages these days. Yoga helps and so does spending a lot of time inside my own head trying to work out the underlying cause of my struggles.
Even today I still feel emotional about it. It was a VERY important encounter I will never ever forget. That gorgeous piece of art is hanging where I can see it every day, next
to the original one which I blogged about on my 4th post. Almost 3 years ago.
Mary, I know you will probably never read this but thank you. I be tryin' every day.
p.s. I finally lost another pound.
I think we do assume that all heavy people are trying to lose weight. There are people who don't care about their size. There is a very large lady that works at the quilt shop where I go. She said once, "I'm just not into the dieting thing." It's hard not to go into the prepared speech about all the health risks with obesity, the physical toll obesity takes, and the stress on all the organs. There are people who just aren't going to make the effort and that's OK; they know what they are doing. As I age, I think about being elderly - I don't want to suffer. I want to be able to open a jar and climb a flight of steps. I don't want to just exist. I say "swim on" - and be sure to dive into life and keep on keepin' on.
ReplyDeleteHow neat to meet such an inspirational person. I love the fish, it is fun & funky.
ReplyDeleteGod puts the right people in the right places at the right time. No matter what happens, I'm going to yoga this week. No. Matter. What.
ReplyDeleteI love that artwork. Swim on, indeed. And congrats on the loss!
ReplyDeleteIf you never lost another pound...you would always be the most BEAUTIFUL person I know!! I am so proud of you!
ReplyDeleteLove you!!!
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ReplyDeleteI love your Mom's observation and I know that when I am ready to learn, the teacher always appears.
ReplyDeleteWhat a awesome moment! and I love the art the fish is to cool!
ReplyDeleteI think your mom is exactly right. What an awesome post...i still have goosebumps!! :)
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I'm learning something similar lately. I'm totally proud of all the weight I've lost! But sometimes, when I'm stressing and freaking out over what I can't eat or what I did eat, I have to just sit back and realize: there are more important things in life.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I love that woman (the artist)! I always see her stuff at the local festivals here and I keep meaning to buy something. I just think her work is so real and inspiring.
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