The plan for this weekend was: Drive to an art meeting in Darmstadt, drive to my parents, see the new Star Wars movie, drive back to school. But as they say: If you want to make God laugh, tell him what you’ve planned!

First of all, the driving part wouldn’t work: I had to take the car to the shop to get the brakes fixed. The appointment would be Monday, and since driving with broken brakes in the mean time was a bad idea, driving home wouldn’t work.

But I wanted to go to the art meeting, so I took the train and arranged to sleep over at Ulrike’s house (the person who invited me). It normally takes 2h to get from here to Darmstadt, but it took me 4, due to train delays. I was exhausted by the time I got there, but the journey was worth it: Several art organisation leaders were there and we got to connect.

Then, Ulrike told me that she was going to teach an art workshop in Mainz the next day and invited me to come. I figured it would be fun, so I drove with her and her husband, to a charismatic Hispanic church in Mainz. People spoke English, Spanish, and German. One guy was in his 70s, one girl was 15, a mom was in her 30s, her little son was 3. Some came from Brazil, some from Mexico, some from the US, some from Germany.
And in this diverse group, we all had a creative day, in a “have fun” and less a “produce good art” kind of way. Even though I work as a professional, I enjoyed the “have fun” approach for a change :)

Afterwards, they dropped me off at the train station, I sketched a few people, and then rode back home.

Things didn’t go as planned. But the weekend was an adventure, and I’m glad I allowed myself to go with it. What unexpected journeys do you find yourself in? Unless it’s clearly destructive, be open to “go with it” and see where the adventure takes you. Chances are, the unexpected journey will be more interesting than what you’ve planned :)