I find that when I'm knee-deep in its season I have just too much to tell you and no words perfect enough to describe it all.
And now we're two weekends away from The End.
Before I know it I'll be bidding farewell to faraway friends too busy now packing up their tents and yurts and campers before heading on to the next Faire to do more than hug me and say goodbye.
Where does the time go??....
I'm learning a lot this season.
Like I couldn't continue to do what I do without repeat customers who like my work enough to annually add to their collections. (This never ceases to amaze me. I am so GRATEFUL for them all.)
And I learned to throw some of my pre-conceived ideas out the window. That the unlikeliest of customers may just be a kindred spirit in disguise, just waiting for me to initiate a conversation and turn them into a friend. That exhausted or drunk or cranky person may just need to see someone smile. And -- holy CRAP -- hugs really are MAGICK.
As always, I'm reminded that people are fascinating. And it doesn't take much to draw them out and discover just how interesting they are. It helps that after I tell them how I'm currently doing business I can just shut up and stop trying to sell them something. I love that part. And I've found that sometimes after a good conversation together that person will just grab something and buy it. Why, I wonder? Is it a souvenir of our interaction? Was it really that meaningful?? And then it dawns on me just how invisible some people feel and how grateful they are to be seen. But then I'm saddened a little to think that just really SEEING another fellow human being is monumental enough to be a superpower.
And the children.... When I was first introduced to Fest I was a young adult and the event was so monumental to me then that I promised myself I'd be a part of it someday and now I have been, for almost 35 years. But what must it look like to a young and open and impressionable mind that still believes in Magick?? I've met countless kiddos this season who have asked me the most brilliant of questions, mostly about my butterflies, of course. But thus begins some amazing conversations! And after a day of experiencing the Festival, many return before leaving for home and I kid you not, I get HUGS and THANKYOUS and fervent promises that if I ever need someone to pretend to be a dragon and stand outside my shop and tell people to 'come inside and see the best art in the WORLD!', they're my champion.
The hell?? How did I get to be so lucky!?
So many beautiful things, and odd things, and extraordinary things, and head-scratching things, and mindblowing things happen to me during my Fest days that I've taken to writing as many of them down as I have time for. Maybe I should turn them into a book someday....
And I'm sure I learn the same things every season, but they're always big revelations to me. And I wouldn't have those revelations, I don't think, without Fest in my life.
Two more weekends left and then I'll have to find places again for all my Fest flotsam. And then I'll have to wait a year to relearn the same lessons. And that's OK.... And I'm so grateful that late in my Fest life I struck upon a business model that works so well for me that I can let it go off and inspire people while I just listen to them and find out how fascinating they are.
It seems to be THE magickal combination that's Just Right.
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