I had a few Divine Appointments in the fall of this past year. I didn’t know it at the time, of course. One never does, until it is illuminated there in the rearview mirror…. and you realize, it was there all along. Not sure why life works that way.
I was in the throws of teaching myself real estate photography – with my love of design and architecture, and my experience with buying, building, and selling homes – I felt this would be the perfect merge of all my favorite worlds. My dear realtor friends helped and encouraged me, and I was struggling to make all the puzzle pieces fit together… many many hours were spent alone in empty houses with my camera. It was a steep learning curve, with learning my camera, lighting, editing. Through my research in studying architectural photographers, I stumbled across a gem of a human named Alyssa Rosenheck. She is a brilliant architectural photographer and shines even brighter as an inspirational beacon of light. She posted that she would be coming to do a branding workshop in Roundtop, Texas which is an hour from my house. She was partnering with Shea McGee, owner of McGee and Co. If you are a fan of design in any way, you know who Shea is… she is a giant in the design world, with over 800k followers – she has that classic, clean style with a slightly modern twist. It was what dreams were made of. I wasted no time in signing myself right on up… Party consisting of me, myself, and I.
I’ll spare you the details that led up to the day of the workshop…. all you really need to know is this: Fear. (I mean really – why can’t it just get lost? We are all real sick of your ever looming presence, Fear. You always make diving into the unknown so impossibly hard and you invite yourself to everything. I’ll say this, Fear, you are persistent.). The day of the workshop arrived, and I decided to go dressed as myself in a denim shirt and boots. I packed up with Fear in tow, and was on my way. Like a bonafide grownup.
First off, some happy news! Because I couldn’t get my Google maps to work, I succeeded in arriving just in time to avoid the networking portion of the morning. The first of many gifts of this blessed experience.
I walked in and sat myself in the very front row. Anyone that knows me knows I am always a back-row-far-corner sitter.. easy in and easy out… as invisible as humanly possible. In good conscience it should be stated that this is not appropriate behavior. Introvert much?
But not this day. And it was the best day.
The venue was remarkable. Small and chic with modern vintage charm. The gathering was not large at all. The workshop was opened by the owners of The Vintage Roundtop, Paige and Smoot Hull – they talked about why they left their very successful careers to open up Vintage Roundtop – they had a dream to help others achieve theirs – and wanted to open a space to house the events and retreats necessary in making that possible. It was life-giving. I could have listened to them talk forever. If you ever get a chance to go to an event, or stay there for a girls trip to Roundtop, do so! https://www.thevintageroundtop.com . Alyssa and Shea were awesome. They were honest. Transparent. Genuine. Kind.
I truly was the equivalent of a preschooler attending a college level class. ‘In Over Your Head’ is the statement that comes to mind. At one point someone asked the question of the relevancy of doing a partnership with someone that “only had like 3,000 followers” to which I thought… How about zero followers? (Short answer: Not relevant.). But here’s what did happen. I met some incredibly inspiring, smart, kind, successful women. And it happened so that our conversation turned to our children, as it often does. And one of my new friends was blending her family, and moving kids to a new town and new schools. Now this WAS my wheelhouse, and I loved working through all of that with her, brainstorming ideas of what might help make their transition easier. Our connection was instant and I learned from her, too. We walk on common ground, as women, as mothers. No matter our history, our culture, or religion or financial status. We want to do a good job. We want our kids to be happy, and have a successful life, and to be content with their choices and comfortable in the skin they were given.
Isn’t it funny? I needed a small business branding workshop to remind me that the most important job of all starts at home. Design is beautiful and meaningful, but it is our start in life – and the start that we give our own- that sustains us for the long haul.
It was my ah-ha moment. Every person that spoke, mentioned their mother that day. We all have one, many of us are one. Many of us aren’t one, but act as one to a younger co-worker or family member or friend. These are the ties that bind us, and we look to each other for support and ideas and wine. It’s hard work. The hardest work of all. The best work of all.
And so, the full circle part of this post is this: It was there, with me, all along. I had to go to a brand building workshop to know for sure… that the world really does need us just as we are. We want to combat this, because it’s been said so much for so long. The idea of self acceptance isn’t going away, and it’s different than arrogance, because it’s actually just a moment of clarity that changes the way we look at your lives. Less comparing, and more through the lens of gratefulness…the knowing that you were created for a certain purpose. And after that? The most important, and sometimes hardest, step of the journey is to show up at the party, dressed as yourself.
And PS: If you still can, call your mom. She’s waiting.