The other day I saw a post on Instagram that read “no summer has topped summer of 2016!!!” I instantly sent it to Rita because the first 6 months of 2016 were filled with unforgettable moments in our lives! When Rita and I met up in Berlin for spring break 2016, we named our adventure #RiSiTakesEurope. When we met up again that summer to celebrate me graduating college, with friends, we rightfully so named our adventure #RiSiTakesEurope2.
Amsterdam was the last stop for our vacay. Rita & I had just been there two months prior, so we felt like we knew the area well. Lol. We visited as many coffeeshops as we could find. It was such an amazing feeling to be able to walk into a store, be greeted with a warm welcome, and be shown different types of marijuana to buy. Pre-rolls, spliffs, nuggets, hash, edibles, & drinks galore – it was a cannabis bonanza; I was in love.
On our last day in the city, we spent hours walking around Rembrandtplein. We were soooooo stoned, so we decided to sit down in the grassy area and observe the beautiful people in that beautiful city on that beautiful day. Before we sat down in the grassy area, we had a big scare. We were walking to a convenient store when Christian realized he didn’t have his camera. We panicked. WE had been walking around for God knows how long before he realized the camera was missing. We retraced our steps. We walked near the grassy area and saw the police holding Christian’s camera. They said something like “we figured someone forgot it, we were gonna wait a while to see if anyone came back”. Christian was relieved. So was I; he had just taken some amazing pictures of me, Rita, and Nortee in the flower garden around the corner.
As we were walking around the city, I was filled with so many happy emotions. Partly because I was so high, but mostly because the atmosphere and vibes were so pure. There was no fighting going on, there wasn’t a big screen running political ads about the future president, and everyone had a smile or pleasant look on their face. We made our way to the grassy area. I was stopped in my tracks by this beautiful bird. He was so unique. He was so comfortable being close to us. I was amazed. I couldn’t help but to focus on his design. The red eyes, the red feet, the black line by his tail, the metallic gray over his body – simply beautiful.
Seeing this beautiful bird reminded me how meticulous God is with his creations. I sat in the grassy area and reviewed the pictures on Christian and I’s cameras. As I reviewed the pictures, I realized just like the bird is amazingly beautiful and meticulously created by God; so are we. Our black girl magic and black boy joy was radiating in Rembrandtplein that day.
Life Lesson:
· God is meticulous with his creations.
How I Apply it to My Life:
· I remember God designed everyone and everything exactly how he wanted it to be. I don’t have to understand the “why” or “how” to appreciate the beauty it possesses.
Song:
· J. Cole – The Badness (Ft. Omen)
“Believe in God like the sun up in the sky /
Science can tell us how, but can’t tell us why.”
SLIDESHOW: Us in Amsterdam (two different days), birds from the shoot, and a kind stranger who wanted to take a picture with me.