“One of those days…”

It was one of those days.
I woke up feeling… complacent. A little anxious. My head was pounding and I felt a little stuffy, too. The weather was dreary and I felt overwhelmed for whatever reason.
I immediately perked up upon thinking about who I was about to go see– Daniella. One of my best friends, who has been by my side almost half my life.
Daniella had asked me to go on an adventure today, which usually equates to finding a waterfall a few cities over. But, with the forecast uninviting, we decided on a more chill scene of doing some work in a Starbucks before checking out a city right near us.
I spent some time in prayer, but rushed it. Rushed past my living God and what He was speaking, rushed through my time with Him, having already convinced myself it wasn’t going to be “fun” this morning.
What a lie.
I got ready for the day (coffee, banana with peanut butter, bad hair day in a low bun) and went to meet Daniella.
The plan was to bus to meet her, but, after missing three busses, Daniella kindly offered to come to me.
I was frustrated with myself, feeling melancholy, and guilty for disorganization when…
being with Daniella made that go away. Something I love about her is her ability to take everything in stride. She may not see it in herself, but she’s not calculative, never manipulative, always simply present.
We worked together for a few hours before our hope of the rain clearing dissipated and we settled on one of our favourite lunch spots, Copper Branch, after which we ventured to Cambridge.
It didn’t feel exciting, nor like an “adventure,” we both agreed– but I think that’s because an adventure wasn’t what we needed.
After stopping a new pop-up dairy-free ice cream place, and checking out a thrift shop, we walked down to a beautiful river and watched ducks. For a long time.
Taking no photos and documenting none of it for social media purposes, we just marvelled at the ducks, their family instincts, their beautiful feathers, intricate feet, uniqueness. We talked about how amazing it was that so many species existed. Stunned by the sheer beauty of these creatures.
I relayed a quotation I had recently read to Daniella by Toni Morrison:
At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.
It’s something I love about her. She doesn’t feel the need to share photos or moments on social media because she doesn’t want to participate in distracting others from living the beauty themselves. And even watching those ducks, I wanted to blather on about them while she was so content to just observe them.
I think it’s one of the things that makes us soul sisters.
I didn’t know I needed to watch ducks that day, but God did. He quieted the complacency and reminded me of His marvellousness in the gentlest way, alongside the greatest friend.