Jell-O for All!

It's my birthday, my 61st. Last year I felt compelled to enjoy a big deal about it, but this year I'm keeping it low, just going through some of my usual emotional processes. I couldn't get to sleep last night, full of self-examination and thoughts about my progress on the planet, what I can do better, what mistakes I might be engaging in at this point in my life. I do all that while also being extremely grateful for having gotten this far and feeling some measure of satisfaction and even happiness as I begin another turn through the seasons.

I never work on my birthday if I can help it, and usually hardly work all week. I did some printing on Monday and got myself to Tuesday Market for the first one this year, and am glad I did.

The Jell-O is causing a buzz! I sold two roses and got lots of opportunities to talk about it. People are just amazed and delighted at the gorgeousness of the flowers and full of ideas for what I should do next. I promised a mermaid collector I would make a mermaid or two. I put orchids on headbands and roses on pinbacks for boutonnieres. I pinned one in my hair on Saturday and can be seen in Kim's flickr stream of photos of Market, but I look too ghoulishly old in the picture to want to display it here. Here are a couple of bathroom mirror pictures of the "fascinators" I made this week.

My friend Pamela so generously took me to Wicked on Saturday night and I wore Jell-O in my hair, a purple orchid, and we sat in the fourth row. That means just about everyone in the Hult Center saw me and wondered what the heck it was. Usually people think it's glass, which of course would be too heavy and dangerous. Jell-O is perfect. The sun throws colors on my hair and all around me, and I feel totally elegant and special. I think it may just be a real product now, though time will tell. I made some little cards to give out and a lot of people picked them up on Saturday. I'm presently the top hit on google for Jell-O Artist, which is some measure of universal success. I'm not just alive, I have done something pretty darn special for my fifteen minutes.

I like what my friend Dave says: "You're one in a million, and there's a million just like you." Keeps a bit of perspective. I get a thrill out of saying I'm probably the only person in the world making these items, but anyone could do it. I even tell how. My thrill will most likely be short-lived, but that doesn't take away any of my enjoyment today.

We had a satisfying SM Board meeting last night, made some decisions that took bravery and deep thought, and I was especially proud of my friend Willy for his leadership and listening skills. He used to work with pre-schoolers and their parents and he is putting that to good use now, fielding all the emotions that fly around the room because we are all so deeply invested in our organization. Even though we are getting so big we almost fit the description I came up with for OCF this week: a humongous spinning ball of energy that no one is in charge of. If you are lucky you can guide it ever-so-slightly in one direction or another but its energy and synergy are just not under the control of any single person, so looking for an authority figure to mete out justice is futile. You have to step in, advocate for what matters to you, and add your energy to the spin. Be careful, never reckless.

Be thoughtful, yet open to new ideas. Come from the heart and use your head. Don't be too afraid. Remind yourself you are just one tiny part of something amazing, and can take a little credit while not feeling too powerful. Negative energy can spin things just the same as positive can, so stay on the sunny side. We are the microcosm, and have carved out a space where we can act and be, and be safe, and prosper and be happy in our choices. We can allow lots of chances, and we don't have to burn any bridges or engage in any fruitless quests or silly quarrels. It's more than a market, and the universe is unfolding as it should. (Those are some of the mantras our staff shares with us...our staff is the most amazing team ever pulled together.)

The Tuesday Market people bonded. I'll do a separate post about it. Our Board took a couple of steps into a more secure future last night regarding keeping our market vital and open to all while protecting our niche and our prosperity. We have things to work on, but the will to solve the problems in constructive and kind ways, and I'm happy to do my part.

With Jell-O! Hurray!