Last night I taught a rock painting class at my gym and I did something really weird – I didn’t take ANY photos of the students or rocks. I took ONE photo, of my plate of food to send Steven, because he had sent me a picture of his dinner.
(I ate more when I got home – there was not a lot of vegan food, nor did I expect there to be and was totally fine with that! I don’t like making my veganism a thing.)
If you know me, you’ll know it’s unusual for me not to take a ton of photos – that’s kind of my MO – I’m always documenting.
But I just wanted to be in the moment, and it felt nice. I didn’t even know where my phone was for half the class.
Did I regret it when I got home? Just a little. It does feel odd to have that photo as my only documentation. But I swear it happened!
About 15 people showed up, and everyone brought dishes to share because it was wwmsgiving – we even went around the table and said what we’re grateful for (mine was a poorly explained version of this post and how grateful I am to find new friendships and community in unexpected places). Everyone did an awesome job painting and many said how calming and relaxing it is. I’m really glad I could share it with them and they felt that way – that’s what it is for me too.
Photo I took of their rocks this morning!
Special shoutout to Bobbi for helping me set up. I got there at 5:30 for the 6:00 pm start and we were setting up for almost that entire thirty minutes. I left at 9:00 pm and still need to organize and put all my painting stuff away. Eh, I will get to it. I did get all the rocks resined and ready to take in on Monday for people to pick up though, so that’s something!
I had so much fun! It was so relaxing and everyone was enjoying themselves…you did an awesome job working the room and making sure everyone had what they needed 🙂
The girl next to me took a ton of pictures (I took NONE)…I bet she would share them with you!
Yay, I am so glad you did and so happy you came! Your rocks turned out excellent. And thanks for the compliment!
I wonder who that was! Marybel’s sister?
It feels like such a confusing artifact of our current era, the conflict between feeling good about being in the moment and feeling frustrated/regretful that we didn’t get a photo of that moment! I feel this all the time and I don’t know how to resolve it. It’s so nice to fully participate in something, but I also love having a record of the event to enjoy later!
Glad you had such a good experience! It sounds like it was a much needed and very relaxing creative outlet for people.
Yes! Exactly! You so get me. I guess we all need to hire a crew to document our lives? Ha. Can you imagine?
Thank you! I think it was! I think people are always surprised to see they are creative 🙂
Look! You have photos of the rocks all resined up and that’s good enough!!
It is! 😀
I am someone who is ALWAYS taking pictures and sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s OKAY to do something and not take a picture of it. Sometimes we just have to enjoy the moment, and it seems like that’s what you were doing!
Yes! I was! I am glad you have been doing it too – it feels odd but so good!