Hello, fellow geeks and dreamers
I’m extremely aware that it’s been a while. I wanted to post, promise, but I just couldn’t. This all happened after tabling at a pop-up in January.
FIRE ATE THE SLUGS
The emotion slugs that enjoy their time slithering on my body had unexpectedly been replaced with a sort of internal fire. I’m almost positive that it’s called ambition or drive. Either way, it was great timing as I had to enter THE ZONE and prepare for my first event – The Cape Town Print Fair. Posting was still at the back of my mind, but whenever I sat down to write,
I froze.
I MIGHT HAVE GIVEN MYSELF SOCIAL ANXIETY
Accidentally, of course. I did a pop-up and started a Youtube channel, if you can believe it, and quickly realised that I need to change my approach. Or the type of content, if you want to be specific.
However, the realisation brought up some nasty memories of frequently having my appearance criticised or being called too weird. SLUGS OF LIFE focusing on a more personal take didn’t help much other.
So I packed up the feelings and thousands of thoughts, zipped it up, and threw them over the rail. Emotional issues can wait– It was time to get ready for my first print fair.
THE CAPE TOWN PRINT FAIR
On the last weekend of March, Cape Town had its first print fair. It took place in this beautiful, old building that used to be a FNB bank. I forgot to take photos of the venue, but imagine, if you will, a large brick building with wood panels and iron locks hiding all entrances. Once inside, you were boxed in with an emblem on the ground and walls of dilapidated, white marble that reached up to a glass dome, almost like Gringotts Wizarding Bank from the Harry Potter universe.
I practically felt like a washing machine of… senses. The fire was there, but so were the anxiety slugs. On the one hand, it was one of two events in the entire country that are related to what I do, and I was burning to share Fistbump the Sky with others with the new booth setup and FAQ booklets. On the other hand, the pop-up had left me drained for two days, and that was only for a few hours AND I had help. The Cape Town Print Fair, however, was three days and no-one was available to help me.
Now, before you think I’m soft, do remember that I am AuDHD and that overstimulation often leads to me being incapable of processing conversations or even speaking. I’m also, according to others, not great with people.
Nevertheless, opportunities are more important than my fears, so I did the setup and prepared to interact with strangers for the next three days.
I won’t bore you with the logistics, so all I will say is that
IT WAS AWESOOOOMMEEEE
The crowd were intrigued by the worldbuilding and stories, and I received compliments on the this-is-not-what-I-expected-but-I-did-it-anyway table, along with some much needed information. I also took part in a few exchanges and came up with ideas for the next event.
But the best thing was that I never once felt judged for being weird, or not being “cool” enough. Interacting with the other vendors brought up the same, warm feeling I get whenever I see dwarves on screen. I never thought I would feel that way about a group of people, besides animators for some reason. The entire thing made me feel like a melted egg.
So, I think I found my people and a bit more confidence to start posting again. So get ready, because it’s about to get weird. But, this time, I think that’s okay.
The creator of Fistbump the Sky,
The Artist of the Inter-Territory Research Team