I don't know why you say goodbye. I say hello!

Just over five short months have passed and here we are again, bidding fond farewell to a friend and welcoming change. Who was to know that the send off we gave Jenna in May would need a retraction by October? That's right! Our smiling dreamer Jenna has come back to us. We are overjoyed to welcome her back into the Umbra fold.

But there is bittersweetness in this welcoming, for in regaining Jenna, we are releasing another loved one to broaden her creative horizons.
Trisha, Trishie, Trish. Whatever we call her, our lovable, poetic potter always answers with enthusiasm and utmost sincerity. Sometimes she repays our questions with quandaries of her own:

"Hey, Caris...Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, Trish. Shoot."
"When was one time you felt really really loved?"

Or

"Hey. I gotta ask you something."
"Of course."
"Please tell me the top three things you like most about yourself."

It's this inquisitive grace that will carry Trish seamlessly from management here at Umbra to sweet success in opening a ceramics shop of her very own. If you chance to visit her new place off Main Street, you'll easily see what we'll be missing. Trish is our diamond in the rough, someone who is truly as cavalier about caring for others as she is for searching out the meaning of her own existence. Oh how we will miss her. But no tears! "Don't cry for me!" I can hear her say with her patented Cheshire-cat grin. Too bad Trish. We all say you're worth the drama!

Best wishes in sharing your light Trisha!

Facing our fears

We may be only midway through October, but I know you have seen the signs. Forest of Fear in 3D! Don't get lost in the Enchanted MAiZE! I am noticing a theme. This month seems to bring most of us this feeling that if fear isn't finding us yet this season, we should go find it first! Initially I thought, "Fright? Fear? How could those be good?" Then I remembered the wisdom of ages:

"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Danger? Hah! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger." -- Young Simba

and finally, my favorite,

"You have to systematically create confusion, it sets creativity free. Everything that is contradictory creates life. " -- Salvador Dali

Ok, that last one may not connect with the theme as readily. I think that Dali meant that every time we take our ideas for granted, they become less meaningful to us. There is no creativity without a search for meaning. Thus, intentionally setting ourselves on the fearsome, bitter edge of "what could be" reminds us to keep searching. And to keep creating. To put it simply, I believe that the miracle of a new idea is born from a fear faced.

So what if a creative victory is followed by the fresh anxiety -- Will someone else appreciate this new thing I have made, what my creative drive has forged? Take this added discomfort as more fuel for your fire! I'm reminded of this line from Fiona Apple: "But he's no good at being uncomfortable, so he can't stop staying exactly the same." The song, "Extraordinary Machine," goes on to relate how this poor fellow's unwillingness to face fear head on drives away the possible object of his affection--a beautifully reckless female. Sorry to tell you that he ends up lonely and uncreative.

When we're in the nitty gritty of confusion, we may rally with others who have similar fears. (Being a klutz, I have always wished that there were a convention for creative goofy souls like me. Like "Welcome to the 5th Annual Jewelers Who Can't Stop Spilling the Beads Fest! We hope you brought your whisk broom!") Maybe that's why the fear season is also fair season. I'm betting that when St. Elmo's own artist market and holiday festival rolls around, a number one topic of conversation will be how as individuals, as crafters, and as a community we have freed our creativity and beaten the odds. We had challenges -- physical pain, lack of funds, too little time. We had trepidation that our ideas might not reach fruition. But in November we'll gather to proclaim in metal and fabric, paint and wax exactly how we have burst our bonds.

So I ask, are you a caged bird ready to beat a wing and sing? Are you setting your creativity free within our contradictory, confusing world? How will you embrace fear this October? As always, feel free to tell us about new ways you want to share your light by commenting here or by email!