What You Need Might Pass You By...If You Don't Catch It

What you want might make you cry

What you need might pass you by

If you don't catch it

If you don't catch it

And what you need ironically

will turn out what you want to be

If you just let it

If you just let it

Familiar Lauryn Hill lyrics never rang truer when I planned my day in DC getaway this past weekend. I was torn between going to the Metropolitan of Art Museum in Manhattan or the National Gallery of Art Museum in DC or the American museum of Art in DC. Either place would suffice I told myself because what I needed was to be in a space where I felt beautiful (the kind of beauty that comes with being around beautiful things, people, etc.) and my soul was whole.  It was with that need that I did some research on the exhibits at the three museums and coupled with the fact that a friend was headed to the DC area, that I chose DC and figured I’d save Manhattan for next time. And boy was I glad I chose DC.

Granted I never made it to the National Gallery of Art Museum. I did however make it the American Art Museum, the only one of the Smithsonian museums not on the national mall, but also the only one plopped in the center of amazing stores and boutiques as well as cafes, chocolate stores and the like. I was right in the middle of beautiful things and that did my soul well. Beautiful people, clothes, colors, smells, architecture, and hen the exhibit that I saw…art from the Harlem Renaissance…beyond Beautiful.  Breathtakingly profound.

I could have stayed at that exhibit all day soaking in not only the actual art, but the rich stories of the artists themselves and the reason for the piece displayed. There was everything from photography that welcomed you into the souls of the subjects it captured, to sculpture so delicate you held your breath because the slightest movement of air may have disturbed it, to paintings that used so many colors surely there were colors the artist must have created specific to that piece.

When I returned home I was a far better person that I was when I left. Soul uplifted, inner flame of beauty reignited, focus realigned.

It’s important to make sure that you are in touch with what you need and to make time to go get it.  This goes beyond you needing to meet a deadline, make an appearance at some event, hitting the gym, or taking out the trash. I’m talking about knowing when you need to let something or someone go, when you need to unplug and power off (and not just because you are going to sleep), when you need to say no and when you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and say yes.

This week I encourage you not to get caught up in wanting to get things done, checked off the to do list, out of the way, or rushing to the weekend. Instead, I encourage you to make time for what you need. For me I needed out of Pennsylvania (so glad DC is so close but yet far enough away). I needed to be surrounded by visionaries (artists are such visionaries). I needed to be surrounded by the beauty that comes from pursuing passion and pushing past struggle even when you want to give up (artists are ridiculously tenacious). I knew what I needed and I went and got it. Go and do likewise.