The Best Way To Eat A Watermelon
The cows don’t judge me.
Hip To Be Square
A few months ago I was contacted by Square. It was a very brief, vague email, which basically said, “We’d like you to be involved with something we’re doing, but in order for us to tell you what it is, you have to sign an NDA.” And I said, “Nothing gets me curious like ‘Non-Disclosure Agreement,’ send it over!”
So they did, and I signed it, and a phone call followed, where I was told that Square was creating an online marketplace, similar to Etsy (which I’ve used in the past) and Big Cartel (which I currently use) and would I like to be involved in beta testing? I jumped at the chance because I feel like Goldilocks when it comes to online shop services – I’ve tried a few and investigated even more and haven’t found anything that is just right. Until now? Square might be it.
So without further ado, I introduce you to my shop with Square. I’ve made a number of pieces that I’ve been saving for this launch ~ lots of turquoise, new arrowhead necklaces, and one very, very old arrowhead necklace made from a Native American artifact Mike found (I never find arrowheads).
You can check out the other shops involved in the beta testing at Square’s marketplace, and my shop is HERE.
Disclaimer blah blah: I am NOT being paid or compensated to promote Square or their new marketplace. I just got to participate during the early stages, and it was fun, and I look forward to their growth.
Blue Skies
The Short Story of A Long Year
The last twelve months have been really hard. Which is not to be confused with ‘bad’ – a lot of spectacular things have happened, but there has been a lot of time spent in hospitals and talking people off of ledges (both literal and figurative) and witnessing things I deeply care about getting eaten by the nothing. Which is why this blog has kind of fallen off its tracks. I kind of fell off my own tracks.
By spring, I was no longer managing my stress very well – I was walking around with my shoulders up around my ears and something as minor as stubbing my toe would set me off on a hysterical crying jag – release I wasn’t allowing myself or even realized I needed until I started noticing the pattern. Then Fiona had her calf and I wrote this in my notebook:
When Fiona’s calf was born, before it had even gotten up, Sir Baby came over to check it out. Well, he was just walking by, but then changed his course to come see Fifi and the baby – he is the grandfather, after all (he’s shown zero interest in the other calves that have been born around him). I didn’t want him too close, not until the calf had gotten up and nursed, so I picked up a long, straight branch and held it horizontally between Baby and me, eye level to Baby. He stopped his advance. The branch looked like a fence pole. Then I took a few steps toward Baby, still holding the branch horizontally between us, and he started backing up. An interesting experiment in psychology. Sir Baby had the strength and power to bash through me and my flimsy stick, or he could have simply walked around the end of it, but he believed it was a fence and that he was powerless against it – that he had to surrender to it. It made me wonder if the barriers we see as indomitable in our own lives are nothing more than sticks held at eye level.
I decided to test this concept. I wrote a list of things I was upset about (the first step is always identification). And one by one, these things that seemed so huge, so solid, so impenetrable, that had been governing me emotionally and physically, just….. evaporated. Like I was able to find the floating end of the stick and walk around it, one at a time, one after another. It’s an ongoing practice.
Related: Man On Wire. If you need a hit of faith and wonder, check out this documentary, streaming on Netflix. It is exquisite.
MY NEW BOOK!
More, Elsewhere
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