WE GATHERED UNDER TWINKLE LIGHTS

We gathered under twinkle lights. Many, many, twinkle lights. On a very chilly November night in New England, we connected and shared, ate, laughed and engaged in real conversations with each other in person, in real life, in an ambiance that felt magical and other worldly.

It was important to me that everyone at my open house felt welcome and at ease to join in on conversations and/or activities, hopefully avoiding having that awful and awkward experience of standing around alone at an event unsure of what to do, with no easy way to connect with anyone or anything besides the bar.

Seriously, that feeling makes me want to jump out of my skin..or more likely...just stay home. So...there was "human bingo" and a "take what you need" station, a place to help us come up with a name for the studio and another to share your vision for what you see is possible in the space.

And then there were the clouds...an inspired act of homegrown, homemade, creativity and gumption.

And then there was the incredible spread of food from...Bre at bites by Bre and beer from LongLive Beerworks.

But then there was this...and this turns out to be even more incredible than the clouds...ok well a toss up anyway.

I woke up the next day all excited to post about the evening and share some of the magic and immediately realized that I only took 2 photos...4 if I counted the 2 selfies with a friend..short version I had 1 or 2 useable photos. Huh. I noticed no one else had posted any pics either..nor had during the event. Hmmm...

Envisioning the night before, it occurred to me that other than the photographer I hired (thank you Desiree Dugan whose pics you'll see next week), almost no one was on their phones.

Here's what I LOVE about this.

When is the last time you went anywhere for a few hours and didn't take your phone out-besides the movies, church or live theater? Think about that? Maybe it's just me but this had my head spinning. IS it possible that people were so engaged with one another that they would go against their muscle memory?

Ladies and gentleman we disrupted the pattern of current culture and our own behavior and were transported forward to a time where people once again come together for connection, conversation and shared experience in real life, with one another, that feels so good nothing digital can compare.

The best part? It was so natural that we almost didn't notice. Heck, I had just hoped to spark some willingness for this kind of community building, never expecting the plan to work as well as it did and go so old school I think we hit on our original impulses of being human, together. Connection, community and storytelling. It was full analog but clearly we are all craving it more than perhaps we knew.

So for those of you who were there...may the magic and sense of belonging live on in your hearts. For those who weren't able to join us this round, stay tuned as there will be plenty more where this came from.

For everyone craving more connection, community and conversation please check out the what's happening in the studio, ways to work with me and come together to bring your next chapter to life.