A Year Older…Wiser…and My Moment With Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Biospheres
Last week was my birthday. I’m going to say that 46 feels GREAT! I have had an amazing, albeit a bit of a rollercoaster at times, year. It’s definitely been a year of growth, perspective and discovery and I learn more every day.  Here’s what I learned last week.
After the election I felt like I needed to do something to change the course of my social media feeds. It just wasn’t a fun place to hang out. So, I offered a free 30 Day Coloring Out Loud workshop to get people creating, connecting and sharing. If you follow me, you know that my workshops are full of color and creativity, but are more mindful self-discovery than art school. The workshop is going amazingly well and I’m spending a lot more time with my oil pastels and even some paints this month. This week, while coloring, I realized a pattern. I was “making something” with my art supplies and then when it felt done, I jumped in and changed it. I painted over it or I mixed the colors of my oil pastels to make something new. I was “letting go.” Â When it happened unconsciously several times I was in tune enough to take note and think about it.
Let Go
That was the message that came to me and I connected deeply with. Nothing is “final.” You can add, change, and refocus to recreate something completely different out of what you originally started with. You can let go of an idea and let it become something else. Very powerful as we approach the end of the year and I begin to evaluate where I am and where I am going.
Then it snowed. On my birthday.
Yes, it snowed. An odd segue but stay with me.
It snowed, a somewhat rare happening in Downtown Seattle. It began about 8:00 in the evening and it was coming down pretty good. I have an amazing view out my window of the Amazon Biospheres and my first thought was “SNOW GLOBES! If we get enough snow I have to get a photo of the Amazon Biospheres covered in white. They will be like snow globes!”  So I got my camera and tripod ready and I waited.
To my pleasure, we did get enough snow.
And, they were beautiful!
And, I got “the shot.”
I sent a quick photo email over to a friend at the construction company building the domes, thinking he’d love the view and the snow covered magic.
He did.
Friday afternoon I get a call from none other than…Amazon. My friend had shared the photo with his team and client and Amazon wanted to know if they could use the photo on social media for promo. Oh, but of course, right?
RIGHT!
Well, turns out, it wasn’t just Amazon’s social media account sending out the photo it was Jeff Bezos! Completely unknown to me until an email from Twitter alerted me that he had mentioned me in a tweet! That’s when I saw this:
Happy Birthday to me!
I freaked out. “…great pic.” The Amazon contact apologized for being coy…I forgave! Twitter blew up. My friends and family all got excited. I thought it was really cute that the Amazon Biospheres are like children and he’s celebrating their first snow. AWE. But mostly…I freaked out.
And then there was the next email that delivered to my inbox. A rejection email from a local art gallery I had submitted to weeks ago. I could have let this overshadow my excitement. That sting of rejection countering a notable “…great pic.” It’s easy to do as a creative, sit with the critiques over the acknowledgements. But, because of my year of growth, perspective and discovery I knew there was a lesson and a message here. My Coloring Out Loud process message reverberated through my head.
Let Go
Sometimes we intentionally try something.
Deliberately acting with a desired outcome.
And, it doesn’t work.
Sometimes we just organically act.
Sharing ourselves with no expected outcome.
And, something amazing happens.
Let Go
It was another piece of the message. Keep being deliberate. Keep being your organic self. Let go. What’s supposed to happen, will happen.
I love the message. It’s validation to keep going. To keep putting myself out there. Intentionally or not.
Every moment is an opportunity. Be genuine and live authentically and follow the moments.
Oh…and it just so happened that Bezos’ moment created another moment on Monday…
And then….I let go and CELEBRATED…again thanks to those Amazon Biosphere “snow globes” and Jeff Bezos. The gift that keeps giving.
Keep going.
Follow your dreams.
Live your passions.
Put yourself out there.
With and without expectation of outcome.
Rejection and all.
Let go and let it go!
Because, not everything ends in a rejection. Sometimes, well, you get things like Bezos and GeekWire. Not to mention some really great insight and wisdom.
Thanks, Jeff, for making 46 quite memorable and validating my dream and my passion.
More exciting news is coming about melissaAnne COLORS Photography. Look for it in your inbox soon!
Until then…
Color on!
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