A couple weeks ago I found myself cycling into a loop of stuck every time I started thinking about the venue for Shivanauticon.
Shivanauticon (which I say in my head with about a thousand exclamation points!) is the extremely sparkly Unconventional that we’re throwing this August.
It’s a giant crazy project that both thrills me deep into my bones and also is kind of scaring me, because it’s so vital and magical and necessary — for the world, you guys! — in ways that I don’t yet understand.
Anyway, venues. I had hit a wall. And that was interesting. A clew!
So I sent up the bat signal and called metaphor mouse to help.
It turned out the wall had some good information.
Like the fact that I have lots of negative associations with the word venue that I didn’t even know about.
That — for me, because definitions are highly personal — a venue meant something boring and super straight.
Having a venue would make it the kind of thing that everyone else does, that adults do.
Like signing contracts and wearing nametags and yelling into a bluetooth. Horribleness.
“Where are we on signing the venue, Bob? Corporate wants to know!”
Venues — again, in my head — are expensive and complicated and kind of smell like conference rooms. Nooooooooooo!
Knowing what I don’t want helps me pinpoint what I do want.
Metaphor mouse reminded me to ask me what qualities, words and feelings I associate with the thing I want, even without knowing what that thing is.
Here’s what came up:
[+playful] [+fun] [+magical] [+delight]
[+sparkly] [+grounded] [+hidden]
[+alternative] [+welcoming] [+belonging]
[+special] [+surprising] [+gleeful]
[+wonder] [+stars] [+possibility]
[+joy] [+patterns] [+flair]
What else do I know about this place?
It’s like a bigger Playground. But it’s not there all the time.
It appears and disappears.
It sets itself up one day in this cool place that didn’t really exist before. A temporary home for this hugely special Occurrence. And then when it’s gone, everything is different.
Like a fairground.
It’s kind of invisible until all of a sudden OHMYGOD THEY’RE SETTING UP THE CIRCUS! It was always a fairground but a fairground-in-potential. Where you forget what it can be.
So it’s something that is conjured up and then it goes back to being potential.
A fairground! Of course!
A Fairground is an obvious cousin to the Playground, which is my teaching center in northeast Portland.
But it’s a special Fairground. With flair. Yes.
It’s a FLAIRGROUND! And once we knew that, it found us.
Yesterday I visited the Flairground for the first time.
It’s perfect. The way that a baby is perfect, and you want to kiss it on its tiny glorious breathing nose.
Like the Playground, it has magical elevators (except these work), outrageously high ceilings and gorgeous chandeliers. But it’s the Flairground.
There are patterns everywhere. Which is perfect because we’ll be doing lots of shivanauttery, and Shiva Nata makes you hyper-aware and appreciative of patterns. You find meaning in shapes. There will be shapes.
It talked to me, in the same way that the Playground did when it was just a tiny baby idea. And in the same way that the space where the Playground lives said YOU when I walked in the door.
It said YOU and it said YES and it said IMAGINE. While it hummed love into all the corners. I get that this is a crazy thing to say but it is true.
Other things I can tell you about this Flairground.
- You can feel the special right away.
- It’s in downtown Portland.
- There is kooky stained glass (with a sense of humor).
- There’s a Refueling Station that you can hide in when you want to be alone.
- And a scribbling room if you want to sit and journal or do arts and crafts.
- There’s a water fountain.
- We might be able to have a cotton candy machine, you guys! Because hello, it’s clearly a secret circus in addition to being an Unconventional and a gathering and a safe sheltering blanket fort.
- There is the exact stage that I have always wanted to teach from.
- We can project stars on the ceiling and transform everything into night, like at the Playground.
- Doing Shiva Nata here will be so beautiful and important that you might have to cry. I’m kind of tearing up just thinking about it.
- THIS is a place for joyful togetherness. And also a place for having space to yourself and standing in your sovereignty.
- The instant you set foot in this building, you will know. It’s the one.
A Flairground is not like other places.
It has flair. And flares!
It does not allow for stressful or boring things.
No one gets lectured at there. There will not be keynote speeches or sitting and passively receiving information. There also won’t be awkward group bonding exercises or having to touch strangers or describe yourself in X words or anything like that.
That kind of stuff doesn’t live at a Flairground. A Flairground only has things that are congruent.
Like cotton candy. And a refueling station to hide in. And quiet nooks. And inspiration by the bottle.
Shivanauticon could never accidentally turn into a conventional convention in a place like that.
It will always remember who it is.
Celebration! And the commenting blanket fort.
You guys!
I am feeling giddy with delight at how quickly the Flairground and I found each other and fell in love.
And, at the same time, this is definitely a tiny, sweet thing for me.
It’s vulnerable and important. So I need us all to tread really gently.
Here is what I would like!
If you would like to say HOORAY!
If you have colorful confetti that dissolves as it lands so that no one has to sweep it up.
If you would like to be enthusiastically joyful with me about any aspect of this.
And you can sign up at Shivanauticon.com to get details as soon as we have them.
I should say that we already have more people on that list than can be held by the Flairground, but of course not everyone will come. So join in, because who knows? Maybe we will be able to flail together at the wondrous flailing Flairground in August.
And even if you’re sure you won’t be able to make it because you’re in New Zealand or just moved to Bolivia, sign up anyway because we might have a streaming video option.
That is all. Big love to all of you.
Thinking about us is the thing that fills me with hope when I dream up a place like the Flairground, and then discover that is already exists.
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Havi, hooray for meeting your Flairground! May it be the most magical place ever for your Unconventional Shivanauttery. xo
I always love reading about your process, learning from metaphor mouse… and seeing you name things. You’re the best at naming things! And the cool-ness of it is that you teach by example. 🙂
*dances around in anticipatory joy*
Flairground! Yes!
Hoorrrayyy!
And rainbow-colored-snowflake confetti.
The kind that melts when it touches down.
Yay yay yay and HOORAY!
May it be fabulous!
I am having crazy magic visions of what it might be like, but I’m keeping them in silent retreat because this is a tiny, sweet new thing and I know it is going to live differently in my imagination than in real life. But oh the magic sparkles and the pure humming joy that is radiating out of this, I can hardly stand still!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Shivanauticon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hooray! Shivanataicon will be soooooooo fun! So fabulous! A Secret Circus in the Making!
I LOVE the word venue, becasue I learned it in context of Grateful Dead shows. Like “I know the Dead are playing Atlanta next month, but what’s the venue?”
So venue for me, is a place to go see the Grateful Dead, which until I met you, was the most fun a grownup could have. A place of COLOR and MUSIC and JOY JOY JOY and dance dance dance–and it didn’t matter that it was a “temporary autonomous zone” and that Bon Jovi would be playing there next week. We’d leave the show, marveling: Can you imagine, there’s gonna be a HOCKEY game in here tomorrrow?? Oh well, leave a little invisible joy-bundle under the seat!
I will say HOOOORAAAAYYY and I will blow BUBBLES, which have all the satisfying qualities of dissolving confetti PLUS they make that satisfying little popping sound when they land!
P.S. Do you know something is up with your CommentLuv? For at least a couple weeks now I’ve been getting a “The version of CommentLuv on this site is no longer supported” message when I leave a comment.
Hoorays, and rainbow-colored no-cleanup-required confetti! (Maybe it is secretly food for birds! That would be neat.)
FLAIRGROUND.
Hooray!!! With bubbles!!!!! (great minds, oliver danni 🙂 )
I will now send out a gwish that someday I will experience the awesomeness of the Flairgrounds for myself. 🙂
Hooray, hooray, hooray! Colorful bubbles and puppy kisses all around! It sounds perfect and fabulous!
HOORAY!! And dissolving sparkle rainbow confetti of love!
More cheers and self-sweeping confetti!! Yay for perfect matches!
Also, ‘venue’ is less icky when you say it pretentiously in French, like ‘vuh-NEWWW’.
Have we found le venuuuuuue yet?
@oliver danny.. yes, it seems to be the problem everyone’s experiencing!
Yippee!! You found the Flairground!! This is stupendous news! Hooray!!! 🙂
Woo-HOOO!! This post just totally blew doors open for me concerning congruence. Thought I had it, but didn’t really *get* it. On my way now. Thank you, thank you!
The Flairground! C’est fantastique! I am so thrilled for you, and for Shivanauts everywhere (and everywhen)!
*****sparkly confetti*****
Wow! Flairground! Cotton candy machine! Secret circus! Bubbles and rainbow confetti! Puppy kisses! Stained glass with a sense of humor!!!
It’s been gray overcast windy and cold all day, all blah, and then I read this — now my brain is reeling with color and excitement.
Feeling joyous for you, excited about it, sending love and sparkles to you and the Shivanauts!
And I’m thinking that I need to put Metaphor Mouse to work on my hibernation place. Because maybe I need a Flairground instead of a cave for the winter…
Yay hooray!! The first thing I thought when I read your description of what you wanted the Flairground to be was Brigadoon. 🙂
HOORAY
Flairground!
There are not enough !!!s in the world for you and the magic you will hold in August!
Blowing you kisses, whispering ‘yes,’ and dancing in the love!
xox
Wowee! Sparkly fireworks for the Flairground!
Wheeeee yaaaaay! happy flails to yooooo!
HOORAY AND YAY!
Havi! New Zealand! Shiva Nata! The Flairground! Something not existing until suddenly, it does! This post makes me feel like it’s possible! Love from the deep south!
Love it, Havi. I suppose you’ll talk about the actual “where” soon. Or maybe, since I live in beautiful Portland, I’ll just walk around until I start to feel the special.
hooray, havi! hooray, flairground! hooray!
HOORAY!!!
*throwing magical confetti*
You found the Flairground! Hooray!!
YAY!!!
And as someone who produces events – the magic trick is to shoot streamers, to confeti – streamers are easy to clean up – you just start wrapping them around a broom handle and they all wind up…..
and by the way – if shivanauticon needs a production guy / tech director or such, I’d love to help!
Much love!
Andy
hooray!!!!