Like Sharon Collins, I took a creative lunch break. I co-ordinated lunch for my kids and stuck a sketchbook and pencil in my purse. A break was just what I needed in the midst of a week packed full of appointments. 

But where can I have a break in a house full of people in a city full of people. 

Taking  a lunch break turned out to be the perfect plan. Walking through the oriental gardens in our housing complex, I breathed in the beauty and when I approached this little pond full of mini-lily pads, it called to me. 

Surprisingly, not long after I sat on the rock, the noises that constantly fill the background of my life subsided. All I could hear was the birds calling – and in China that means roosters, too. Even in the city. 

Still, I was amazed to find myself alone. As I sketched I took in the curve of the leaves, the shadow of the stems, and even a little worm crawling across a lily pad. The weight of a week heavier than most got lost in the shapes and shadows of this peaceful little scene. 

As time went on, I couldn’t believe I was still alone. I’ve never sat for so long in China without being passed by people. I’ve never been outside for so long without being called Wai Guo Ren, foreigner. For a while I felt invisible, and I relished it. 

Finishing my drawing, I set my sketchbook on the rock beside me, and an elderly man approached. “You’ve been sitting here a long time,” he said. 

I smiled. 

I will never be invisible in China, but I’m more thankful than I imagined I would be, more refreshed than I thought I could be, after my creative lunch break.