Scotch tape

I'm gearing up for our next opera right now, and I'm editing my program, GRRrrroooovvVVing with Jill Scott's "A Long Walk." My mind started to wander...

"You're here, I'm pleased
I really dig your company
your style, your smile
your peace mentality.
Lord, have mercy on me, I was blind now I can see
what a king's supposed to be
baby I feel free c'mon and go with me.
Let's take a long walk
around the park, after dark..."

A walk in the park with someone that makes me feel like that. Hmm...that'd be part of a good day.

At my last job, we did a writing exercise where you'd sketch out your perfect day. We tried to make liquid desires, wishes, goals and dreams solidify themselves into the span of your last day. The time constraint is usually removed, generally led with,"you know, if time and space weren't factors..."

Meaning, you could throw fish at the Seattle Market, wade through the tide of the Gulf of Mexico, have dinner with the pope at the Vatican, and have time to trek with your beloved in the Australian outback....all before 11 a.m.

In this newfound desire to seek solitude and be really present in my life, I constantly track back to moments that have struck me as contenders for this perfect day. A walk that makes me feel like Jill Scott would be there (I've never had one).

These perfect moments almost never come in the same series of events, but are instead scotch-taped together remnants of powerful encounters. A recent collage:

Winter skylines that defy season.
I saw a sunset nearly identical to this photo on a roadtrip to Wichita recently. It was a great sight that preceeded a fantastic evening of opera and amazing company (both contenders for that great day). I realized Kansas is phenomenal if you look at things closely. As the light broke through the clouds, you couldn't tell if it was hazy enough to be winter, or clear enough to be summer. Reflecting off green hills (thanks, no doubt to the recent warmth), it was like time was suspended above season.

A new perspective.
If I lie across my bed horizontally and stick my head against my window, I can look straight up into the sky. It gives birth to tremendous comfort, stillness, and I highly recommend it with a soundtrack ("Translanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie. Album: Translanticism).
It's like watching the stars in my car, only better, and in my pajamas. I wish I could find a permanent peace like this that is big enough to cover all my fears...all the time.

An inner mantra - "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
Bible verses really stay with me, and they often come shooting through the dark while I'm in prayer. I cling to these bits of truth throughout the week. As everything speeds up, I take small breaks throughout the day to bring my racing mind back. "Be still. Be still. You're not God, Ally." On my best day, I'd have a moment like this that gives me that permanent peace and follows throughout the day.

Obviously there'd be skydiving, alligator wrestling, a newcastle, cooking classes, art museums, rock climbing, yoga practice, prayer sessions, total cosmic enlightenment and ALL OF YOU in this perfect day, but these three recent things really stuck with me.

I like it when we see bits of heaven. I have no doubt that's what these moments are - glimpses into the eternal where all of our needs are satisfied, our purpose is realized, and our mind fully engaged to what we desire.

That is heaven on earth.