A while back, I wrote about burnout and crawling out of the pit of it one creative project at a time. I try not to talk about what I do for a paycheck, it is important for me to compartmentalize my life and not share the creativity I need from the same well. However, when it comes to art, community, and fun, I just can’t help myself and I overdid it recently, as one tends to do during the holidays.
As I mentioned in that prior post, I work in Parks and Recreation for my community, and while I like to think of myself as the Leslie Knope of my area, the hard and fast truth is that I’m a Department of one and don’t have my BFF working by my side (which I’m super sad about).
As part of my function there, I am often creating new facilities for the community, or hosting ribbon-cuttings, which I enjoy doing. This is especially true when we are celebrating something I was inspired to take action on, like our Story Walk which you can take a look at here. For today’s post, we were in the same area, but increased the scope slightly. We started talking about a Christmas event in July, and by October I was working on forms, flyers, and schedules, and drumming up interest to find the support we needed. By November I was placing orders and hanging banners. We got a late start, but the enthusiasm and support was there, so I was all in.
I put myself in charge of the main thoroughfare, and here is what I had to work with…
Okay, I know it looks bad… but it couldn’t be helped that there was an abandoned building in town centrally located where we wanted to hold our event. It is a small village, and we didn’t have much choice, so I decided to make the best of what we had to work with and made my plans to convert the pathway between the buildings into Gingerbread Alley. Time to make the miracle happen!
What I have found since doing more reflection on my journey is that I have gotten into a really bad habit of not asking for help. I have been let down countless times in my life and tend to do things myself. As a practice that is fine since it allows you to avoid the feeling of rejection and your subsequent disappointment in humanity, but it also allows you to make your decisions from a place of fear. Or at least that is my take on it.
To pull this off, I realized I would need a lot more than some paint and creative visual distraction. I would need to do something that took me out of my comfort zone as well as have a solid plan that wouldn’t overwhelm me. Anyone who has followed me for any length of time knows I am not a plotter (per se) when it comes to my fiction, and that I primarily fly by the “seat of my pants” when it comes to writing. So here is what I ended up with on this project… I would need to go against my nature and 1) Ask others for help, and I would need to 2) Create a Vision/Plan and then (personally) focus on just one part of it, and assign the other tasks. I, of course, took the biggest task on, which shouldn’t be surprising to anyone considering my history, but the designer in me wouldn’t have it any other way. Once I decided that my “theme” would be Gingerbread Alley and Shabby Chic (because… have you seen that building?) it was off to the races.
I work better with visuals, and I find when working with a group it is the best way for them to all get on board with a general theme. I did some quick and dirty mock-ups in Publisher, and ordered fabric backdrops to staple to the side of the empty building (with the owner’s permission of course). The banners were used to cover some not-so-nice-looking walls and to provide a space for folks to take pictures. The banners came in way nicer than expected (the size shown is 15’x10′), and with a few hay bales, tables, seats, and some creative “screening,” we managed to turn this into an opportunity for families to get some nice pictures. I also took advantage of using some 3’x4′ panels my husband brought home, and the help of a local artist, to create an “Elfie” panel.
For Gingerbread Alley, we used a local group to cut out and make wooden lollipops from a sample I had from another event I was part of from my Flower Shop days. With the purchase of some dowels and the addition of some donated wood, Wooden lollipops were made, painted, and covered with cellophane and ribbon to give us festive decorations that could be used pretty much anywhere. And they were! I will say that the painting and prep was done starting in October, so we needed a ton of lead time on this when fitting painting in and around … well… life.
With some of those panels from my husband, I thought it would be fun to make gingerbread people, so asked the same group doing the lollipops if they could cut them out. What was great was that we have a plotter at work that could print a template in a 3’x4′ size, perfect for putting on the press board and creating the perfect cutout! Many thanks to SunCatcherStudio.com for the template! It worked out great!
Projects like these aren’t typically done by one person, although for a personality like mine that takes on more than they can handle, it can seem like it. I will be the first to admit that I probably did more than the average person would have for an outdoor event in 12 degree weather, but it was crunch time and everyone had their assignments. I just happened to have a few more than was reasonable for a woman who had just celebrated her 60th birthday.
At the end of the day, the inaugural event was a success, and no one was the wiser that I had so many other plans that never made it past the initial mock-up. The community loved our efforts, which goes to show you it isn’t the gift, but the intent behind it that matters. What I learned is that there are people out there that will help, but sometimes you need to do the hard thing and ask. What you also need to do is to be in tune with the helpers strengths and weaknesses, so you can assign them a task that they can excel at, and then let them do their thing. You also need to be aware of who is all talk and no action, and assign them a task that doesn’t matter. Learned that the hard way.
At the end of the day, I believe we all take pride in a job well done, and if it is for Santa and/or the children, no one is going to go half the way. I had to trust that the volunteers would pull through, and if they didn’t, I had to be okay with the thing not happening. I managed to stay in my lane, for the most part, which was the hardest lesson of all. I am going on the record here and now that my lane will be much smaller next time. My feet and fingers will thank me for that since they are still not right from the near frostbite.
This project gave me hope that there are good people out there willing to make a difference if asked, and such pride in our community for stepping up. One person can make a difference, but many hands lighten the load… and the stress, so ask for a little help from your friends and neighbors! It made a huge difference for me this year, and gave me the creative fuel I needed to spark my Muse. It even gave me time enough to visit with the Jolly Old Elf and give him my Christmas List. And yes, having more time to write was definitely on it!
Sometimes, when life gives you lemons… you need to make a raspberry lemon martini. Better yet, go out to dinner somewhere they are making them and order one with your favorite meal while out with your BFF! That is what I plan to do! In the meantime, I hope you find inspiration surrounding you, even at work when you are doing things you don’t necessarily plan for. Here’s wishing you the creative spark you need to see your tasks in a whole new light and the magick to pull them off without a hitch!
Interested in giving the women of history the happily-ever-after they deserved? Want to know how I would do it? Check out the Goddesses In Love Collection along with news on my latest releases and free book offers by going to my home page here: https://dahenneman.com/.
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D.A. Henneman - Romance Author 