Women at play

You never know when a chance meeting may change your life.

When I served as back-up photographer at Alyssa’s wedding two years ago, one of the people I met was her friend Kerry, who was just about to start a group exploring the work of Brené Brown. Kerry invited me, and for a year I met once a month with a fascinating group of therapists and artists of my children’s generation. I realized how easy it is to become ghettoized with people of one’s own age, and with these young women I experienced a renewal of my own youth and playfulness.

At the end of that year, we decided we all need to play more, so we started a second group, a play group. First we made chocolates. Last night was watercolor. Future meetings will involve jewelry-making, chalk on the sidewalk, improvisation, and other ways to use our hands and bodies for expression, to try things our busy lives have not given us time for, and to strive for imperfection in adventurous ways. 

Last night as we met around a table with paints and brushes, what drew my eye was the soft evening light playing across Kerry’s face and shoulders. I couldn’t resist picking up the camera.