Well, as things change, sometimes things don’t go quite how we think they should. However, sometimes thing take a turn for the good in unexpected ways! The years 2016 and 2017 were pretty tough for personal reasons… In 2018 though, things started to go a bit better. I had originally planned to be off from work for the 2018 Mighty Kindness Earth Day Hootenanny, but ended up accidentally scheduling another obligation that same day… I thought I would be covered, but my manager left the company to pursue another opportunity out of state. When a friend of mine who paints and makes jewelry heard about this, she offered to get to the Hootenanny early, set up our booth and sell books for me until I could make it after work! Once I was off work, I got to enjoy the last few hours of the Hootenanny and sell a few books personally. My friend’s help led to a closer friendship.

In other news, I had been missing some of my favorite open mics, since some had ended or relocated to places and times that weren’t exactly convenient for me to attend. However, one day near the end of 2018, I was looking around in a new crystal shop that I hadn’t been in before, and I overheard a couple of young ladies say that their band was going to perform that night at a local pizza place. On a whim, I decided to attend the performance. The music was very nice, and fun to listen to. At the end of the show, one of the band members who works at the pizza place said that she would be starting a new open mic there! I’ve been attending and reading my poetry there each week from the start, meeting new performers, and it is still fun so far!

The Hootenanny has been called off for 2019, as its founders have been working to build a new retreat center on their property… but I hope the Hootenanny will be back next year – and that I’ll actually be able to attend at a booth for the entire day next time.

Things happen for a reason, though we might not always know what that reason is. We just need to keep looking for opportunities to meet new friends and have new experiences to inspire us.