It isn’t very often that I find myself away from my husband and kids in a group of professionals that I don’t know, but last night I did. I had been mentoring my 13 year old niece for a year long school project she was participating in called “The Heroic Journey”.
Last night was the final ceremony and as part of the ceremony I, as her mentor (or as they called it her “ally”), was to present her with a journal, symbolizing the continuation of her heroic journey. I went to the store to find a journal. I found a beautiful turquoise one. I bought colored pencils for her to use in her journal to add color to her life and to symbolize that life is best lived with lots of color. I wrapped her journal with colorful ribbons.
I have learned this year that color brings me joy. When I put vibrant and fun colors together when I’m creating a doll, I feel energized and happy. I feel content with color. Color in nature can put a little skip in my step. I love color.
Standing in the courtyard alone in the crowd waiting for the ceremony to begin I felt a little bit uncomfortable but decided that I would enjoy the view rather worry about the fact that I wasn’t chatting up the woman next to me. I had a great view of Camelback mountain through some mesquite trees that were blowing in the warm breeze. It was really beautiful and serene.
The woman next to me yawned and let out a sigh....you know...the kind of sigh that is asking for a response. The sigh was followed by, “Whew...didn’t have enough coffee today.” Sigh. Ok, I’ll talk.
Me: “blah, blah, blah” (some meaningless comment about coffee and being tired in the afternoon.....)
Her: “blah, blah, blah”
Me: “Yeah, blah, blah, blah”
Her: “Yeah, my clients, blah, blah, blah, I’m an attorney, blah, blah, blah.”
Then she asked me the question that always flusters me:
“What do you do?”
Me: “Oh, well, yeah, uh, I stay home with my kids.” (better not say I’m a homeschooler...she might think I’m one of “those” weird homeschoolers....I’ll tell her I’m also an artist.........) “I’m also a doll maker. Yeah, uh, I sell on Etsy.” (eeek! This is awkward and uncomfortable....uh, what do I do?) “I like color”, I say with a shrug, showing her my journal wrapping job. Yeah, that pretty much ended the conversation. Really, what do you say to "I like color"?
I stood there thinking that I really ought to work on my “What I Do” elevator speech. But, no, I don’t think I will. I think who I am is far more important than what I do. So, maybe I’ll come up with a “Who I Am” elevator speech instead. Eh, maybe.
And, by the way...I love color.
