What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
Lost in a Tragic Ice Cream Incident!
There’s this thing and I have no idea what it’s called, but it goes kind of like this.
There’s this completely horrid and dislike-able character on television or in a movie. The mean boss. The snobby girl. The vindictive teacher. The bully.
But then you find out that there’s a reason for their horribleness. A reason that makes them seem vulnerable because of the deep and awful loss they’ve experienced.
And once that reason is known, you start to find out that They’re Really Not So Bad.
I’m positive there is already a name for this phenomenon, and if someone has already found it on tvtropes.org, please tell me!
Lost in a tragic _____________ incident.
The awful boss was being so unreasonable about the deadline, but then it turned out that her entire family had perished in a tragic deadline incident.
The sadistic sergeant who sticks to the rules so strictly — he’s only been that way since his pet koala died in a tragic rulebook incident.
The boyfriend who refuses to talk about his feelings or even admit he has them, but then it all kind of makes sense once you discover that his brother was actually defenestrated in a tragic communicating incident.
It happens.
We all have our reasons.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember but we do.
But there’s another point here too.
When I write blog posts or teach a class or do whatever it is I do at Rally (Rally!), I always want people to know they can change the language.
If I’m referencing sovereignty and that’s not your word, re-work it.
If I’m talking about superpowers but superpowers are uncomfortable for you, re-think them.
It’s your experience. You get to have your own relationship with it.
And there are two ways to work with a word that doesn’t speak to you. You can rewrite the word (invent!) or you can rewrite the definition (translate!).
Either way, you’ll probably want to do some unpacking.
Unpacking is a metaphor, of course.
It just means figuring out what your associations are with a particular word or concept, both positive and negative.
Let’s see… I was in this yoga class and the teacher kept talking about SUPPORT, and I noticed that I started feeling uncomfortable. What qualities, aspects or attributes of support live inside of my personal definition of this word?
Support has — for me — some good things, like:
[+safety] [+sturdiness] [+held] [+can’t hurt myself because I am cared for]
But I also have some not good associations:
[+having to depend on others] [+vulnerability] [+stuck]
Once you know what’s in there, you have choices.
You can decide to rewrite your definition:
From now on, I choose to interpret support to mean that I have internal and external resources which hold me up and keep me grounded and safe.
Support includes my own strengths, and also maybe a community of people that I can rely on.
It can also mean things like the earth, the floor, oxygen — anything that physically helps me move, walk, breathe and be.
Or you can use the metaphor mouse technique to find a new story or a new name for it.
I still don’t love support, but I adore the idea of a hammock. So from now on, whenever she says SUPPORT, I’m going to whisper HAMMOCK to myself, and feel the feeling of the hammock.
Either of these is much better than being in resistance.
It’s no fun thinking to yourself: Aaaargh support is so stupid!
It’s no fun being the person secretly grieving. How can they talk about support when I lost everything I loved in a tragic supporting incident! I’m being a little silly here but sometimes that’s really how it feels.
Sometimes we have pain around words and we don’t even know it.
So if a word doesn’t resonate with you, there isn’t anything wrong with you.
And there isn’t anything wrong with the word.
It just meant that it’s time to give yourself a new word or a new definition. Or both.
Unless, of course, you lost your ability to do that in a tragic dictionary incident.
Back to the ice cream.
Last night I was teaching Shiva Nata at the Playground, and we were coming up with words for the different positions.
The horizontals were Ice Cream, Panda, Sandbox and Barnacle. The verticals were Scrumptious, Cloud, Clam and Orange. It was highly entertaining.
It’s a cloud, shaped like a panda, in a sandbox, eating orange ice cream. Scrumptious panda has barnacle clams? The oranges are cloudy!
But even with silly, ridiculous play-words, you still never know what people’s personal baggage is. Who knows what tragic ice cream panda incidents live in their past?
Everyone has their stuff.
You don’t know what their associations are with these things. And even though it’s unlikely that they suffered awful losses in a tragic orange scrumbox clam-cloud incident, you never what what’s going on for them.
So it’s always, always, always useful to remind people that they have the power to interact consciously with language.
And if they don’t like a word, they can investigate their relationship with that word.
Or not. But change the word or rewrite it or replace it.
Once you remember that you have the power to do that with a word, you have the power to do it with anything.
Play! And comment zen for the giant blanket fort playroom.
If you want to invent ridiculous and imaginary possible tragic incident backstories with me, you are welcome to.
If you want to invent a new name for that particular trope, that works too.
If you want to rewrite words or investigate definitions or do some metaphor mousing, go for it!
As always, we all have our stuff. We’re all working on our stuff. We take responsibility for our stuff and recognize that it’s ours.
We take care of ourselves and each other by making space for people to have their own experience and not giving unsolicited advice or telling people how to feel. That’s all.
Ice cream and pandas for everyone! Unless you don’t like either of those, in which case you don’t have to have one. I’m sure we have something else in the treasure box. What would you like instead?
The Cover Story.
One of my favorite things in the world is finding out what people are using as a cover story for coming to Rally (Rally!).
Because when you’re coming to Rally, you don’t really know what it is, right? Even if you’ve done it before.
I mean, I’ve been at Rally (note my avoidance of the verb) twelve times now and I’m still not sure what it is.
That’s because Rally is magical and weird and surprising. And hard to explain.
All you know is this.
When you’re on your way to Rally, all you know is that you’re off on a crazy-fabulous adventure and that things will be different and sparkly when you return. It will be a sort of voyage.
And there will be pretzel sticks in wine glasses. And a hammock in a Refueling Station!
This makes it difficult to explain to the people in your life who casually (or very seriously, in some cases) wonder why you’re going to be AWOL. Or why you’re journeying off to Portland for a few days. What are you doing?!
And thus the cover story.
Oh, I’m going to………
- a conference
- a yoga thing
- a business thing
- a creative thing
- a craft-ey thing
- a retreat thing
- a secret thing
- a coordination training thing
- just vacation, you know, nothing special
- I’m on silent retreeeeeaaat!
And then you change the subject super-fast! —-> “How are you doing? What are you up to? How’s your whatzit? Really? Oh, wow.”
Most popular cover stories.
I think “oh it’s a conference” and then running away before people can ask what the conference is about.
That’s probably most people’s favorite.
Followed by pretending you’re going to be doing something that sounds fun-for-you, but a thing the other person would find fairly uninteresting.
“It’s a convention for people who do that really specific kind of knitting I was telling you about….”
“It’s a conference about the history of birdfeeders in North America…”
“It has to do with the internet, I’d tell you more but you know how it is…”
Or go with the real story…
Some people can totally get away with saying exactly what it is:
“So there’s this woman? I kind of sort of know her from online. No, not like that. She has a duck! Anyway, she runs a playground. Yes. It’s like preschool, but for grownups.
“And I’m going to go there and work on something — but I don’t know what it is yet — while eating potato chips. Also there’s a costume room.
“We’re going to flail around ridiculously and have epiphanies and then stuff will happen. At the end of it, I’ll have been insanely productive and everything in my life will be better. Anyway, whee! I’m going to Rally! “
The truth is a beautiful thing. It’s just that the truth — much like most epiphanies and big realizations — can sound sort of stupid or silly or insane when said out loud.
It loses its essence in translation.
Of course if you can make it work, go for it! But cover stories are still a useful thing to have in your pocket for certain people, situations or circumstances.
Why we need cover stories.
We all need some spaciousness when it comes to working on our stuff, being in a process, figuring out what projects really are.
Because a Rally (and everything we bring to it) is a form of a tiny, sweet thing.
So we protect it.
We keep it safe and make sure it’s supported. And we do this by giving it buffers. Hiding spaces and holding spaces. Room to breathe and grow.
A cover story is a form of buffer.
It’s a way to build space around the experience you haven’t had yet.
It’s almost like a safe room for the seed of the adventure that you are embarking on.
Who these stories are for.
For you. You get to have buffers and spaciousness too!
For the Rally and the experience itself. So that your experience of Rally can be its own thing, not weighed down by other people’s expectations, projections, judgments and desires.
For your projects, whatever they may be (and you do not need to have a project when you show up at Rally because it will find you while you’re there, I promise).
It’s a way of arranging a secret rendezvous to meet your projects without anyone knowing about your process while you’re still trying to figure it all out.
And also for the people who are asking. The stories are good for everyone.
More stuff to think about!
Sometimes people are just being polite.
Sometimes someone will ask you a question (“what do you do?”) and for them it’s this really simple, casual, I-need-something-to-say-to-fill-this-pause-of-awkwardness.
They don’t know that for you this question is related to big, deep existential pondering and that it can throw you into your stuff.
They’re just as relieved as you are to talk about something else.
So it’s absolutely okay to say something like this: “Oh I’m going to see some friends and work on an old project, thanks for asking! What are you up to?”
Sometimes people are just being distracter mice.
Sometimes when people ask you awkward questions, they’re really just trying to move attention from something they don’t want to talk about. I find this weirdly reassuring.
This is a great time to bring up a book you just read or a film you just saw, or stick to topics that you know they like.
Sometimes people just want reassurance.
If it’s people who are close to you, they really just want to know that you aren’t changing. That you will still love them when you come back from your crazy, mysterious voyage.
Sometimes a hug is a really good answer.
I’m doing something that’s important to me. I’ll tell you about it when I get back. I love you so much. HUG.
And not everything requires a response.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Even though it’s the thing that is hardest for me to remember.
Really and truly: Not everything requires a response.
The magic of the cover story.
Rally is, among other things, a place for creative play. For approaching things with curiosity, wonder and receptivity.
Coming up with a cover story requires that you step into this mindset of invention.
Which means you’re already accessing your Rally superpowers of creativity, possibility and play when you start coming up with stories that hide what you’re really doing.
You’re being inventive. You’re creating safe spaces for yourself. You’re approaching things in a way that is designed to give yourself support and spaciousness before you even get to the Playground.
So cover stories are like secret spy codewords. They’re full of play. They’re helping you arrive. And that’s important.
Play! And comment zen for the giant blanket fort.
If you have been on Rally or are coming to Rally or might come to Rally someday, and you have a cover story, I would love to know what it is.
Let’s invent ridiculous and/or totally believable fake back-stories! And throw confetti.
And if not for Rally, then for other things as well.
As always, we are all working on our stuff. We make room for other people to have their own experience, and we don’t tell each other how to feel, how to think or what to do. Unless they ask!
Kisses to the commenter mice, the Beloved Lurkers and everyone who reads…
postscript: The September Rally is sold out. November is filling up crazy fast. Schedule for new year on the Rally (Rally!) page.
Very Personal Ads #110: on tour! But a really tiny tour.
Personal ads. They’re … personal! Very.
Each week I write these VPAs to practice asking for what I want. And to get clarity on what that really is, even when asking feels conflicted.
I always get useful information about my relationship with various aspects of the ask. Join in if you like!
Thing 1: a breadbox
Here’s what I want:
Last week I was puzzling over how odd it is that I can have something as beautiful and amazing as homemade sourdough bread made from Hoppy House yeasties, but then I just keep it in a plastic bag.
That seems kind of disrespectful to the bread. And to Hoppy House, who is my greatest love.
So I would like to find a beautiful wooden breadbox that is just the thing. It is simple, special — to me, and it feels like home. And I can afford it, or I can comfortably make the choice to invest in it.
Ways this could work:
Not sure.
Maybe you guys know people. Maybe one of my craft-ey Portland friends or friends-of-friends will have ideas.
I can ask Dana if she has ideas. Or maybe Hope would know.
My commitment.
To plant the gwish.
To keep my eyes open.
To tell everyone I know that this is what I’m looking for.
To talk to Hoppy House more.
Thing 2: my massage treatment
Here’s what I want:
I have two lovely body treatments that are gifts, none of which I’ve gotten around to actually using yet.
Even though I absolutely want to.
Ways this could work:
I could find out which parts of me are avoiding this (maybe they feel uncomfortable about some aspect of this?).
And I can ask slightly future me how we resolved this.
And I can use code words for the phone call, of course!
Bing! Sorry. Just had a total shivanautical realization as I was writing this that actually I could give this project to the First Mate and he could set it up for me.
My commitment.
To enjoy.
To do what I can to get better at this weird thing which is receiving. Or at least to get better at noticing what the patterns are around it.
Thing 3: on tour with the Guns N Rollers!
Here’s what I want:
Okay, so what I really, really want is a holiday.
And I know it might seem like I just had one but it’s been two Rallies (Rally!) since then, and I have been working my ass off.
Plus September is madness with the Shiva Nata Academy of Hilarity & Play, and the September Rally and the chagim.
So then I found out that GNR (the roller derby team I sponsor and do Shiva Nata with) will be in Medford, Oregon on August 20th.
What if I went somewhere near there for my holiday? Like Ashland. And then I could go to the bout and be the cheering section.
That would be awesome. And if it doesn’t happen then I want to go to Bend. Or Astoria.
Ways this could work:
Let’s see. I could:
- talk the gentleman into going
- plant it here
- put it on the calendar, making it one step closer to actually happning
- come up with an itinerary?
- consult the Book of Me about ways to make it cheap, fun and useful.
My commitment.
Wheeeeee!
I really want to make this happen.
Thing 4: fun with the Shiva Nata destuckification and play series
Here’s what I want:
This Toozday is the first of my three part Shiva Nata series at the Playground. The series is sold-out, but you might be able to try for a drop-in at one of the classes. I’d email the First Mate and ask.
I want it to be fun, powerful, hilarious, beautiful and to happen with lots of ease.
Ways this could work:
It just could.
I can talk things over with slightly future me and ask for her advice.
I can do an OOD about it and see what’s feeling stuck, if anything, and what needs attention.
My commitment.
Dance dance dance.
Thing 5: Rallions for the 2012 Rallies!
Here’s what I want:
There’s all this stuff I want to do: to rewrite the Rally page, to make some fun, systems changes, to figure out what I’m doing differently in 2012.
But in the meantime, before we raise prices and set up the application system, I think it would be so beautiful if everyone who knows in their heart that they want to come to a Rally next year would just go for it.
It would be such fun to have happy Rallygator lists started for each of next year’s Rallies. And to start chatting on our secret page about where people might stay and what we might play with.
That’s what I want.
Ways this could work:
Not sure yet.
But I’m throwing it into the pot.
And I can ask the people in my Kitchen Table program for help, advice and support.
My commitment.
To love each Rally and love the Playground and hug every single butt-monster that lives there.
To show you guys pictures of the butt-monsters so you can appreciate their extremely adorable way of being monsters with butts.
Progress report on past Very Personal Ads.
Just to update you on what’s happened since last time.
I’d had a huge shivanautical realization about how morning begins at night so I wanted to set up a ritual for it. Done! Yes. Working. Love it.
Then I asked about obscenely ridiculous platform shoes. No movement there yet. Though I kind of have a loose idea about where to look.
There was an ask — which I forgot about, hilariously — about how I wanted to set up the Rallies for 2012. And I did! We have dates. Excellent.
Also I wanted to use my new Rally system and I did. Some tweaking involved but having it in place really, really helped with Rally #12.
And I asked for excitement for Laura and Maryann, and they’ll have to tell me how that went.
Comment zen. Here’s what I’d love today.
Things that are welcome! Your own personal ads, small or large. Updates on past ones if you like.
Leave your gwishes! Throw things in the pot!
Things we try to keep away from: the word “manifest”, telling people how they should be asking for things, unsolicited advice.
VPA amnesty applies, of course. Leave yours any time between now and next Sunday (or whenever, really) — it’s all fine by us!
xox
Friday Chicken #158: dots doing the polka are the best dots ever
In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of ritual and self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
Okay, this week has gone by freakishly fast.
I would totally be on strike right protesting the unfair fact that it’s already Friday, if it weren’t for the fact that I was also so happy about it being Friday. Hi, Friday!
Let’s do this.
The hard stuff
I am ready for a nap.
This week was crazy busy — with brilliantly good things — and now I am ready for someone to tuck me into bed and bring me tea.
And then I would like to not do anything for a while.
Many related projects would all like my attention at the same time.
They make clamoring sounds and then go ooooof when I’m not with them, and I have to keep reminding them about the fractal flowers.
Stupidity gives me a headache.
Someone (not you!) publicly asked someone else a mean and also not very intelligent question (not here!) that tried to belittle my work.
And I was going to respond to it but thinking about it gave me a headache, and arch, headaches. Also it’s true that not everything requires a response, but sometimes I kind of hate that.
So I just ranted to the Rallygators and made them take notes for me because I was thinking too fast, and they all giggled, and then I felt better. Plus now I have notes, so I can write a post about it at some point too.
All better now.
No more Island Time. Sadface me.
I was really loving Island Time, even if it was just metaphorical.
But it had to stop because Rally Time (which is also magical) trumps everything else.
And now I could go back but I have all this stuff to do, so there’s a conflict and I have not resolved it yet, though the monster collective are in negotiations.
Lack of firgun.
I have to write about this concept so that everyone who is not Israeli can understand what I’m talking about.
But trust me. It sucks.
The good stuff
Ohmygoodness so much good stuff this week.
Normally my chickens are pretty balanced, and I’m relieved to find out that what I thought was a depressing and challenging week was actually full of bright moments.
But this week rocked.
I am whooshing joy and tripping on delight. Also tripping over it, but not stubbing my toes.
Rally! (Rally!)
I thought nothing could possibly be as good as Rally #11, which was a pretty spectacular Rally, so I was prepared for the eventuality of everything-is-different-now.
But Rally #12 has been incredible.
Sweet, wonderful, funny, bright people to play with. Creative projectizing. Silliness and laughter.
It went by in a blur of happy.
Monsters on holiday.
Usually I spend about half of Rally talking to the monsters and half of Rally working on my project. Which is a pretty good way to do it, actually.
Especially since Rally is really about your relationship with yourself and your relationship with your projects. And how to make that relationship more about exploration, curiosity, creativity and fun.
So your project could be something like “What would make things not suck so much?” or “How can I sneak around my fear of rejection” or “Figuring out what my project would be if I had one”.
But this time — even though I was ready to monster-dialogue as necessary, my project just wanted to play and play and play with me. Monsters were all, go for it, kiddo.
Completely in the zone.
Seriously I have never been so productive in my entire life. Even for a Rally! Things were just whizzing out and finishing themselves.
In fact, I planned my entire schedule for next year, which wasn’t even part of my Rally project. And it only took two hours (last year it took eight days).
Feeling peaceful, content, happy, joyous and a bunch of other really weird things.
It’s unusual, yes. But I give it five stars.
Holy crap I bought a bathing suit. Imagine many exclamation points here.
Not just the purchasing of it but get this: I’m not freaking out about any part of it.
Even though really, what’s more traumatic than bathing-suit shopping? Somehow not traumatic this time. Incredibly.
Also you’d think I’d be a good ten years past the age at which one can make a polka-dot bikini work, but no. Cuteness.
Because my Rally project told me too.
My project has been very insistent about me having to go to Hawaii.
I don’t know what’s up with that, but it keeps coming up just relentlessly. So fine, I bought the damn bathing suit. We’ll see what happens.
And I have to say, I’m kind of liking how enthusiastically opinionated this project is. Between my joyful happy buzz and its lively plans, I think we’re going to keep having fun together.
Being alive.
Feeling very appreciative of things like breathing. And this house-for-me that is my body.
And how perfect and delicious a really good sandwich can be.
I know it’s the shivanautical buzz, but it’s really, really, really sweet.
And … playing live at the meme beach house it’s the Fake Band of the Week!
My brother and I have this thing where we come up with ridiculous band names and then say in this really pretentious, knowing tone, “Oh, well, you know, it’s just one guy.”
This week’s band is brought to you by the hilarious Shiva Nata class we had at Rally:
The Eight Possumbilities
They’re opening for that one band. Except you know what’s weird? It’s actually just one guy.
That’s it for me …
And of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments if you feel like it.
Yes? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious day, a restful weekend and a happy week to come. Shabbat shalom.
p.s. It’s okay if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — you can join in whenever (or not) and it’s no big deal.
This announcement brought to you by brain scramble pffthlalalawaaah
So I had a bunch of stuff to put here for you guys today.
But then we did the most there-are-no-adequate-adjectives-for-this-level-of-insanity outrageously intense and impossibly impossible Shiva Nata practice at Rally yesterday.
And it erased my brain and replaced everything in it. With better stuff.
Possibly permanently?
Which would be fine actually, because everything in there right now is seriously wonderful.
I feel like this really happy and wise version of me, who finds everything to be funny (instead of annoying), and who is secretly releasing sparkly particles of peace, joy and silliness into the world. Very very quietly.
And I’m not even really into stuff like peace and joy. So it’s a little weird.
It’s like a hum.
A big Hello-I’m-in-love sort of hum.
Anyway.
All that to say: I have no idea what we were going to talk about today.
Also I’m not sure if anything I could say will make sense because epiphanies are stupid when you tell them to people.
How insane was this class? I will tell you.
Usually…
Usually when class is heading towards the end, I ask where people are on the Scale of Flail.™
(With zero being “What? I’m not lost and confused at all!” and 100 being helpless stuttering followed by falling on the floor in a heap.)
That’s to make sure they’re all at least in the high 80s.
This time we just all collapsed in neuron-melting puddles on the floor.
Not really trademarked. That was a joke, yes?
And usually…
Usually after flailing the flail, I walk us through some happy stretching and get everyone back into their force fields and ready for stone skipping. So we’re all still in a deep state of scramble but able to do some writing.
This time I warned everyone not to operate any heavy machinery.
Also! Usually…
Usually at the evening Chicken, a few people will mention the unbelievably amazing epiphanies they had all day, thanks to the rallying and the shivanauttery.
This time, people still talked about the flood of epiphanies, but they also described feeling like happy drunks all day.
“It was as if everything was pretty and sparkly, and I was smiling at buses!”
We wrote and colored and played and hid in blanket forts, just like always. But the joy levels were very high. And the insights were very astounding.
I can’t describe what we did but of course I’m going to try anyway.
It involved using words, numbers, multiplication and addition. And legs. Mixing horizontals and verticals. And flip-its.
With your body. All at the same time.
Like this.
Okay, if position #2 is a ship and #6 is ease, and six times two is twelve, we have twelve ships filled with ease. Which flip into 4 x 8 = 32? yes, thirty two rose possibilities. Twelve plus thirty two means we have forty four ship-easy rosy-possibilities! Mirror reflection!
Or this:
If 3 is water and 7 is fluffy, that makes 21 water-fluffers, which — if we flip it — gives us 5 possoms playing soccer, for a total of 26 water-fluffing possom-sockers!
One possom.
Sailing on two ships.
On three bodies of water.
While drinking Four Roses.
With a partridge. In a pear tree.
Exactly?
We were laughing so hard that our sides hurt.
We were doing math and poetry and left brain and right brain, all while moving both hands and both feet independently of each other. Fast.
I laughed until I cried.
And I cried until I couldn’t see anything anymore through sheets of tears.
I forgot how to operate the ipod I’ve been using for the past four years.
I remembered parts of forgotten things.
I merged with numbers and dissolved into a sea of words.
Do you see what I’m saying? Probably not. But ohmygod.
So yeah.
That’s why there’s no post today. Just me feeling unbelievably joyful and radiating like a small, happy sun. And yes, I get that this is an incredibly odd thing to say.
But I do have an announcement! Thanks in large part to the shivanautical chaos yesterday which resulted in me getting about two months of work done in one afternoon.
So here is the announcing.
Part 1.
The September Rally (Rally!) is completely sold out.
Part 2.
There will be a special and extra-long Rally in November, over Thanksgiving for people who want to escape Thanksgiving.
It will be like last year’s Great Ducking Out. But longer!
I’ll get you guys a link in the next couple days.
Part 3.
We have dates! For all of the 2012 Rallies.
That still sounds like The Future to me. But it’s coming, apparently, and the dates are official.
Here they are:
- Jan 23-26
- Feb 20-23
- March 19-22
- April 23-26
- May 21-24
- June 18-21
- July 23-26
- August 13-16
- Sept 10-13
- Oct 15-18
- Nov 19-23 (the 3rd year of The Great Ducking Out)
Part 4 — the especially important part!
If you’re thinking about coming to a Rally (Rally!) next year, you might want to sign up and save a place at one of these now.
Because as we get the ship ready for the coming year, part of that will mean the necessary raising of Rally prices. And we’ll also be moving to an application system.
So this is a good time to pay the old price and skip the application. Whee! Yes.
I can’t promise that we won’t do insane shivanauttery because we might (though maybe not THAT insane), but I can say that whatever happens will be important, useful, wonderful and will live in you forever.
Okay! Yes!
I have to go because everything inside is being rewritten and I have so much to write down and some safe rooms to play in, and then I’m going to dance it up but it won’t be dancing at all.
Comment blanket-fort zen for today:
Not sure. I think I would like some Hiro-sighs.
Whenever you tell her something special or meaningful to you, Hiro puts her hand on her heart and does this super-cute sweet little mmmm-ing Hiro-sigh.
I would like some Hiro-sighs for my current state of bliss-confusion (blissfusion?) and for having planned a year of Rally, and for its rally goodness.
And thank you a million times for the helpful input you’ve been giving me on words, I have been reading everything and boggling over how clever and sweet you all are. Kisses.
Postscripting to say that the official sign-up for Rally (Rally!) page doesn’t have the new dates yet but they exist. If you sign up, just leave a note in the check-out bit for the First Mate about which month you want.