Weekly(ish) Newsletter: I've Secretly Been Writing
Hi Everyone!
I haven't been around here that much because I was working as A3C's beverage manager. which became really intense the last few weeks. (My friend Jenn said the title makes it sound like I managed the soda machine at a local McDonald's, but actually, that's not what I was doing at all.) The festival ended on the 7th so I spent all of last week sleeping and reflecting.
My reflections centered a lot around A3C. Have you ever not realized that there was a way to make sense of all of the random skills and knowledge that you have? (There's a 50/50 chance this sentence is grammatically incorrect). Well, that's exactly what happened here. A3C asked me to work with all the spirits/beverage partners for the festival. I basically made sure we delivered what we said we would to those accounts. I also deciphered the alcohol laws for venues with and without alcohol licenses, made sure alcohol made it to external partner events, and I created cocktails for the conference and tried my best not to annoy the staff at the conference center while trying to figure out if the cocktails were practical for the environment or not (this created a lot more manual labor and running than I intended). I had an amazing time and felt like the random things that I knew and could do came in really handy. It was a perfect fit for me.
So this is what caused all the reflecting. When I left Studio No. 7, I had no real idea what I would do. Now I'm finding out that there are things that I can do that I would have never even imagined. I'm really enjoying this freedom to explore what I can be. One of the things that I know I want to do is write.
A few nights ago I was reading this book on manifesting. It helped me realize how many negative thoughts I had around writing unconsciously. I won't bore you with all of those here, but suffice it to say it's why I've struggled all of this time. My brain (yes, I know it's me) has been feeding me all of these negative ideas and I've just been wandering around completely unaware of them and how they prevented me from doing something that I love so much. It's going to take a bit of work to shift these thoughts that I've apparently been reciting for quite some time now, but I'm committed to doing it.
This is all really helpful because I've taken up the personal challenge of writing twice a week on the Holy Sip blog for the next year. I'm writing about life balance and beverage...or a life of mindful drinking...(I've decided to not get caught up on what it's actually about and write until it comes together). I'm excited that I have the time and freedom to explore what this could be. Like the A3C opportunity, it's a weird combination of my experiences. Drinking and mindfulness...who knew? Anyway, here's what I've got so far: - An update on my dating life - A story on a the brilliant tea experience at the Wu-Tang exhibit - A modern take on an amaretto sour and a brief overview of my drunken escapades in college Don't worry. I'll still keep writing these newsletters also.
Hope you're all well! Shannon