Vision Quest?

"After months of preparation, hugging her family and friends goodbye, she climbed onto her raft and started down the gentle waters of the Great River. She was excited to finally be on this journey, but also felt surrounded by fear and doubt.

Would she be able to navigate the Big Waters ahead? Was her raft sturdy and strong enough? Had she honed her skills with the paddles to be able to move thru the rapids with ease?"

That's how I felt about the American Craft Council Show. It became something bigger in my head then it really was. I guess I just needed to travel down that path to find the truth for me.

The first day of the show - Friday - was metaphorically like running the gauntlet. My emotions were all over the map. One minute feeling confident, the next like I wanted to throw-up. At one point I thought, "I'll just tell them I have the flu and have to go home now".

It physically and emotionally hurt - all day. I was not having fun. It didn't help that my booth was at the back of the building and the feng shui and chi just swept past my booth like a river rounding a bend - with me on the opposite far shore.

I am proud of myself. I didn't go running and screaming from building. I stayed and faced my demons. It hurt, but I kept moving forward, and in the end I found the peace and joy that was mine. I enjoyed both Sat and Sun of the show and almost made my booth fee. In the end I feel like it really was a big success for me.

Will I do it again? - ask me when the "labor amnesia" kicks in.

I wrote stories about my pieces and scribbled "Notes From The Field" through out the day. I will share these later. - The kids are falling apart right now and I need to go exercise them - smile.