peacefully turbulent

"Peacefully Turbulent" photo by Gina Matchinsky, Red Rock Dam, Pella, Iowa

January 18, 2014 question is "What is peaceful about today?"

It was Saturday and for me it was supposed to be a relaxed kind of day - free to wake up as late as I want, do some chores I was not able to do on week days and just have a leisurely time with loved ones or friends.

Saturday is my day, too, for long leisurely bath and a kind of pamper myself day. That kind of day when you are not so in a hurry to make sure that you were able to put lotion on each and every part of your body, when you rub your facial cream more, the time when you pluck your excess eyebrows or what else there is to pluck or cut or file your nails and set your hair a little more meticulously longer. So leaving on a Saturday usually took a longer time of preparation.

My husband and I were supposed to go on a photo shoot on Saturday but when we got to where we want to shoot, it was really windy and with the snow it felt chilly, too. The forecast said it was supposed to get warmer after noon but it didn't. So no shoot just when my husband needed to get some relief from stress and taking pictures has always been his way to do so.

My husband decided we went to Target to just buy something really important for him which in my mind, I think he will not find there. So I decided to look around for other stuff, too. It is seldom I got to go out shopping since I still don't drive a car (this, I discover, was something you really need to get from one point to another in the U.S.) so whenever we go to a department store I was just so excited to look around. Shopping had always been how I de-stress back when I was in the Philippines and the weather on that day was enough to get people stressed out, too.

The shopping ended with both of us not being able to buy anything and troubled. We got home both frustrated and disappointed, and all the more stressed. We were disappointed at each other for our own personal reasons that no amount of hugging gave relief. Things seem peaceful on the surface but I fell asleep with a huge lump on my throat.

So it was actually a challenge to answer this question and say something worth anybody's while.

So what was peaceful about such a turbulent day? Peace begins with a smile, said Mother Teresa. What was peaceful for such a day would probably be the hope of being able to smile again...