Amidst the calm

I am in a peaceful place now; amidst the calm waters of the in between. This is a poetic and somewhat confusing way of saying I am not busy- for now. A few months ago I became involved with bringing an important message to my town; that women have birth stories to tell and we should all be listening to their voices and respect their experiences. That by hearing the truth of birth we can rise up together to create mother-friendly maternity care. BOLD, Birth on Labor Day, is a movement that brings this message around the world through the arts. I helped the event organizer bring Birth, a play by Karen Brody, to our town by spreading the word, creating a playbill and posters, and being a contact for advertisers. The play had three performances at a local church and we sold many tickets, though not as many as we had hoped. A week later, yesterday in fact, I hosted a Red Tent in my home as part of BOLD. With video camera in hand, I recorded women talk about their birth stories, including my mother. I was surprised that many of my Natural Mamas didn't come to either of these events but I know their lives have been full lately. I think many of them would've enjoyed the power and inspiration from the play and the warmth and closeness of the Red Tent.
Working on these events took a lot of my time (which my husband was quite irritated with) and I'm glad they are over, but I did enjoy tickling my talents. Playbill and ad design was fun and although I stressed to create a nice atmosphere for the Red Tent, I loved, loved designing the space. I'm feeling RED now. Our couches, walls, floors and tables were covered in one way or another by the warm tone and I'm not letting go of that easily. I'd like to create a Moroccan feel to my regular living space and am dreaming of a way to cover the ugly hole of a fireplace we have. But without the pressure of designing for someone else I usually give up easily and add the dream to my mountain of unfinished ideas.
In the coming weeks I plan to concentrate on my home, plan for several family birthdays, gift shop, grocery shop, spend time with the girl while the boy is in preschool...among other things. I hope to be creative, look for spontaneity and feel inspired. Oh, and I did something unexpected today; I dyed my hair RED.