Part of being sick is time to waste on the internet. When I couldn’t hardly get off the couch, I read . . . a lot.
Facebook – BBC World News – Yahoo – and my favorite: the blogs of other people.
Some people I know, and it’s always good to keep up on other people’s lives.
Some people are complete strangers.
Wyatt thinks this is an extremely weird habit. But in any case, it filled my time.
Now, one of the people I blog-stalked over the winter was Emily McPhie. She went to highschool with me. She was two years older. She wore her hair in a bow to prom. And last fall she became my friend on facebook. (When you went to a highschool with a graduating class of 40 – you’re FB friends with EVERYONE who attended your highschool 4 years in either direction).
And one day she posted a picture she had painted. And I LOVED it. And so I looked into her profile and found her blog. And from that blog I found the blog of her older sister, my 8th grade art teacher, Mrs. Barney (but now that I’m an adult she told me I can call her Cass).
So all winter I blog-stalked both of them. I read about their paintings, and the mothering. And they so inspired me.
Then a week or so ago, Cass announced she and her sister would be having a show at the home of a friend of theirs in Orem. I emailed Cass:
Hi Mrs. Barney. This is Andrea from Waterford 8th grade art. Can I come?
And she said yes, but to wear my uniform so she would recognize me.
But I don’t have my uniform anymore. And I was still nervous -I never really knew Emily at all, other than admiring her daring hair bow from a distance, and Cass was my teacher in 8th grade (sixteen years ago!). So I emailed Ashley, one of my best friends from high school, and enlisted her to come with me. I need not fear with Ashley there, who is always at ease in any situation.
So last night we dropped the kids off at Aunty Beez’s, and made our way to a glamorous house in Orem.
And there we found heartwrenching beauty . . . darling, simple, relatable images of emotions that all mothers feel. And Cass and Emily talked about their art, about being a mom, and about being a woman.
I loved each piece, and the difference in styles between the two sisters was thrilling – two hearts so much the same with such different expressions.
And then I introduced myself to Emily, and we talked about it all over again. And then I told Cass who I was, although she seemed to recognize me – at least as a vague memory. And she talked to us all over again. And then Emily came back and talked to us more. And then Cass came back. And between the two of them, I felt like the most important guest there!
And I loved it because I loved the art, and I felt connected to them through their art, and then through their kindness.
And as we drove home I talked to Ashley about how sometimes I let motherhood be all that is required of me – how domestic duties are all I demand of myself. But really, I have the ability to be so much more – if I would be brave like them, and do something.
And not be afraid of the mess or the hassle or the time, but demand that I find a way to do more, to contribute more, and let my own talents (at what ever level they are) be shared with others too.
Mostly it was just a wonderful evening.
You can read the blogs of these great artist mothers, and become fans too!
Emily:
http://tendernessandtoil.blogspot.com
Cass:
http://churningsandburnings.blogspot.com/