So it's been a couple of months and my path has definitely diverged from where I was last year or even 3 months ago. I started reading a book by O.S. Hawkins, The Art of Connecting. The topic is "advice from Philemon on the Power of Productive Relationships". It's interesting that I'm reading this now. Had I known about it earlier, I might have read it then and saved myself some heartache and grief or gotten to this place quicker. That being said, my lovely friend, Leah, who is participating in health care and cpr training to the people in Peru, was downsizing and had some books and I saw this one and what with the title and a picture of a lightbulb on the cover, my very practical self mandated that I read it, encouraged by the part of me that loves and collects books in any shape, size, or color, even if I don't intend to read them. As I write, I'm thinking of the bookshelf, the boxes in the attic, the books at my studio, at my office, and the ones at my mom's house that belonged to my grandfather.
But, I digress. The first chapter was very eye opening to me and the light bulb on the cover made sense. The author starts out by describing a trip he took to the west coast and an earlier than usual wake-up due to the 3 hour time difference. Reaching over to turn on the lamp and then investigating why the lamp didn't work, he realized three things, "...I began to do a little detective work. I came to the brilliant conclusion that the lamp had only three possible points of connection,..the source, where it is plugged in, ...the switch, where it can be turned on, and the socket, which holds the lightbulb." He then goes on to compare life and the lamp, ".....There are only three connections or relationships in life... a relationship with others, the outward connection, or socket, a relationship with ourselves, the inward connection or switch, and finally, a relationship with GOD, the upward connection, or source .'
His illustration concludes with "We will never be properly related to others until we are properly related to ourselves and we will never be properly related to ourselves until we are properly related with GOD."
So, how does that apply to me and this unexpected turn I've taken. Well, let me explain. Through the experience of playing bass for Cabaret, The Musical, I realized that music is a valid and vital expression for me and being able to play something other than the violin allowed my friend, Andrea, to share in the experience of playing in a musical. We had a great group of musicians. So, when the director decided to revive a musical, In His Grace, written and scored by my good friend, Jane Billeaudeaux, I was emboldened to ask for the same musicians to be hired. Thankfully, everyone was available, and we now joke that Cite Des Arts has a house band.
Meanwhile, I have been selling my baked goods at various functions and developing new products and realizing that sharing the result of that ability with others was also a valid and vital expression for me. So, I began pursuing the idea of getting a food truck or opening a cafe/bakery. Well, opening night of the show rolled around, and I asked the director if I could sell some of the Bayou Biscotti items at the snack bar during the run to which she replied, "Absolutely"!
At some point, she expressed the desire to see the cafe area open during the day to sell coffee and have a reading area. The light bulb went off in my head, and at some point I chimed in, "I could sell my gluten free baked goods." She said, "Yes, yes you could." I think we both sat in shock for a moment that neither of us had thought of the idea before. I had been developing the baking business for well over a year, and been involved with theater there, and yet, we didn't see a beneficial partnering until that night. Needless to say, we were both very excited. She was excited for the theater to have more people aware of it's existence and all the workshops and shows and concerts that took place there, as well as for me to have a place to get the word out about all the gluten free and now grain free items on the menu. I was excited to have a place to sell that 1, already existed, 2, was about 1/2 mile from my house, and 3 it was already licensed! and for the theater since it would be an additional way for them to generate income without incurring additional expense.
Back at the beginning of the year, I had no idea how any of the ideas or dreams I had would work out or come to fruition. I only had the intuition of June being a pivotal point in the timing of these projects. Now here it is, June 4th and the Cafe at Cite has a potential opening for mid to late June. Realizing the three points of connection and being mindful of my connections has helped me to be at peace with the uncertainty and be fully convinced that God is faithful to HIS word that is hidden in my heart. I will conclude with two things, One, June has started off with a bang and there are some really cool things happening that will remain unwritten for now. Two, "when you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life!" I'm not sure who said it exactly, a free cupcake or brownie to the first one who can identify the author. They're grain free! :-) (the cupcakes and brownies!!)