Whenever you miss a turn, your GPS doesn’t call you stupid. It doesn’t spend the rest of the trip regretting not taking that other road. It simple pauses, displays “rerouting” and goes about figuring out how to get THERE from the NEW HERE.
All that matters is getting there.
That’s what really ties my life six months ago, in London, to my life this weekend, in Beverly Hills.
All trains from London to Edinburgh were cancelled. There was nothing anyone could do about it. If you wanted to get to Edinburgh, you’d have to find another way.
There were a lot of upset people that day. I wasn’t one of them.
Sure, I had my concerns, but I was much more determined to have the desired outcome; and nothing was going to stop that.
Being a Child of Trauma has its advantages as an adult. I’m very quick to imagine every possible timeline, weighing each scenario, then taking it three steps further. It’s playing chess instead of checkers.
So, when things started to veer off course this weekend, I just remained calm. Other artists lamented and lambasted while I just went about figuring out ways to get a better response. I put art on two sides of my tent… I made bigger signs… I made small talk and quietly listened to people’s life stories.
The next day I put out a bowl of water and a sign “Doggie Relief Center” and my trusty helper, Troy, had brought tiny bottles of water to offer at my table.
Those little acts of kindness created a lot of gratitude… but no more gratuities.
Still, goodwill is its own reward.
I rerouted.
I took out my pen and paper and went about making more art.
For one, it helped to show that “yes, I do make my art with a pen” and secondly, it helped expand my inventory. Some previous shows stopped booking me because they’d already seen all my work. Fresh art gives me hope.
And now, as I write this, all my art stuff is spread across my living room. My unstuffed car has been restuffed with Halloween stuff (getting ready to decorate a church youth dinner on Wednesday night) … and I’m hopping from place to place, trying to catch up on all the post-event activities. Phew!
I was also trying to come up with a clever ending to this post, but I think I’ve missed that turn.
Oh well…
Rerouting…
