Essence.

"She was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, and of beauty." 
-Princess Diana's brother, The Earl of Spencer, during his speech at her funeral.

Last night, my Mom and I went to see the Princess Diana exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.  We had to buy our tickets a week in advance, because the exhibit is leaving town this Wednesday and the weekends were selling out quickly!

The exhibit was exquisite.  I left feeling so inspired by the life that she lived, and so saddened that it was cut short. I admired the fact that she used the attention and fame that she married into to turn the world's eyes towards causes she cared about.  There were stories from people who had met her who talked about her warmth, her charisma, and how she immediately knew how to relate to everyone she came in contact with.  She wasn't afraid to touch them, hug them, or talk with them.  In fact, I appreciated learning that she helped dispel the stigma around both leprosy and AIDS by publicly touching people who were afflicted with the each disease.

The exhibit showcased her family history, her childhood belongings, her extravagant wedding dress with all of her wedding day accessories, information about the charities and organizations that were important to her, videos and speeches from her funeral, and a wide variety of some of her famous outfits.

Unfortunately (and predictably) photos weren't permitted, but it was truly spectacular and like I said, it left me feeling very inspired.  Inspired to live my life out of a deep love for humanity.  It made me want to reach out and touch people, literally, and not be afraid to do it.  The way she rested her hand on others and listened to them in many of the pictures that were displayed was so affectionate and so warm and it pointed out to me that I don't touch people very often.  I hug, but I don't just touch for the sake of connection.

The best part of the entire night was that I got to be with my fun Mum the whole time.  We laughed a lot with each other and we laughed a lot with strangers (I got my enjoyment of talking with people I don't know from her) and we giggled profusely at the things like silly coat racks, pill boxes, and the gift shop's "no refunds" policy. 

The normal coat racks were full, so we had to go to a back room that had more, many more, available hangers for our coats.  However, there was an average height coat rack, and a tall one.  We stood looking at the tall rack for several seconds, trying to figure out how anyone would actually get their coats up there when we finally saw it: a handle.  Soooo we took pictures with what we considered to be a very funny coat rack, and despite the fact that there were PLENTY of empty hangers at our height, we decided it would be way more fun to hang ours up top!

It was a delightful evening!

I know this last picture is blurry, but the twinkle in my Mom's eye is precious and I just had to include it!