I had written last week about the Leap Year Day celebration event at YES Gallery and some of the lovely things and people who were a part of it. When I was sharing with someone this past week about a little girl who brought me a work of her art and a work of art by one of her friends, and who has brought her friends and family to the gallery and who always says it is her favorite place, the person I was talking to said that you can't put a price on that. We had been talking about why it is that we do the things we do sometimes, and why I started the gallery, and we were sharing that sometimes we just do things because we do them, even if it makes no sense to anyone else why we would take the risk to do something like open an art gallery.
It's people like this little girl and Artists and community members of all ages whose response when they walk in the door keep me doing what I do in the way that I do it. When they walk in the gallery and tell me either in their own words or sometimes just in their actions how inspiring and beautiful it is, something in me is made so joyful. Sometimes there are things we do that make no sense to anyone else, and then along comes someone who affirms that what we're doing is important. Every time a visitor has such a positive response, every time someone walks by and says as one woman did the other day, "A best boutique!" or as she said it in German, "Ein besten boutik!" I find myself feeling all glowy and happy and warm inside. It meant so much for me to hear that woman's words, because I know a little German from my Mother and Grandmother and my high school classes, and when she said what she said, I thought of them and some friends I've had over the years and a visit I made to Germany a number of years ago to visit with someone who I knew from an old apartment building I lived in once upon a time.
YES Gallery is a community space, and often when people visit they thank me for what I have created and provided there. In an interesting way it's also a very spiritual place, because whenever I hear compliments and thanks I let people know that there is something more than I am that has made it possible. There isn't a way that any of it could have happened without God and without other people, and the quality of the energy and feeling there wouldn't be possible without God and the beautiful energy of the people who share their beautiful blessings and inspiration in the space. The inspiration and design and everything in it are things that came from a place much greater than I am, and that is not anything that I can say is my own.
I was listening to someone who was talking about spirituality, and I was trying to think about what it is that I would tell them if I could. When we say yes to beauty and joy, when we say yes to love, when we say yes to taking a chance on a dream that God has put in our hearts, the end result is always something that is filled with light and life. It's not always easy, and sometimes we can feel disheartened and discouraged, but then a little girl walks in our door and says that an art gallery is her favorite place, and somehow we find that things start to glow and hum again with the rhythm of fairytales, dreams and all the most beautiful things in a heavenly life.
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