The greatest show on four wheels
It’s that time of year again. New lunchboxes and No. 2 pencils, superhero backpacks and smart phones (kids these days). For me, it’s also that time: time again to run away and join the Fall Festival circus, uh, circuit.
On Labor Day Weekend 2016, I’ll begin my second year of “doing” weekend art festivals. In my first year, I ambitiously participated in over 15 juried festivals, each one with a personality all its own. Still, in spite of their uniqueness, every festival shared an uncanny resemblance to a circus coming to town.
In the center ring, there’s the ringmaster (promoter) who delivers the Show Which Must Go On. All around her, tents rise up seemingly out of nowhere. Her cast of characters (artists) are gifted with wondrous talents and delightful eccentricities. When she does her job to perfection, the crowd assembles, demanding to see something they’ve never seen before. When they do, they’ll quite literally “oooo” and “ahhh” in delight.
And lest we forget: there’s always a clown car.
If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve already met my hilariously unpredictable four-wheeled sidekick, Big Bertha. Since I first joined the circuit/circus almost exactly a year ago, Bertha has hauled my livelihood and me well over 7000 miles and across 10 states.
Not without incident. Not by a long shot.
As I look ahead to the fall and the miles to go before I sleep (apologies to Robert Frost for dragging him into this), it seems only fitting to pay homage to Big Bertha. She doles out the experiences generously; it’s merely up to me to turn lesions into lessons in business, leadership and/or life. The next four blog posts will do just that:
- Where there's smoke
- Forward motion
- Credit where credit is due
- Beef jerky and ambiguity
P.S. You don’t have to run away to visit the circus this fall. If you’re in/near Houston, Ft. Worth, Corpus Christi or El Paso, please come visit me under my little big top.
This story was originally published on August 18, 2016.