The Shoofly Project...: The Other End of Change (Part 2): Here's to the Magicians

I had what I would call an incredibly enjoyable dinner last week with this woman whom I'd never met. We have a mutual friend in Portland who connected us as "women who used to live in Portland but now live in Santa Fe". It occurs to me how the categories of our identity surprisingly expand with each day. Sharing said category is most certainly a reason to have dinner with strangers. And enjoy them.

Among the twists and turns of our conversation, I saw her relax a bit - having recognized the cynic in me - and so with some degree of relief she divulged a fact about Santa Fe that had me belly laughing among my beets. "Everyone you meet here," she says, "will be one of the following:
1. Shaman
2. Practitioner of Soul Retrieval
3. Magician."
(Apparently, there's also the occasional fairy, as in a creator of fairy dust.)

I'm sorry if I've offended all you Soul Retrievers reading this, but I can be nothing if not myself. And seriously?... I don't even understand what soul retrieval means, nor could my new friend explain it. How can you have lost that in the first place? Oh Bless.

What I actually felt in the midst of all the magical talk though was... Relief and Admiration. It occurs to me that this a place where I can, with at least some degree of confidence, announce: "I'm a writer" in the face of that dreaded question of "Sooo, what do you do?". Because after all, I'm not saying Soul Retriever and really... are the Magicians of Santa Fe shuddering in the face of that question? I think not!
Which is relieving somehow. And even a bit admirable.

See I'm about to turn 30 and I confess... it's freaking me out. Especially as I bashfully look back on the confused, maniacal state my professional life took on through my 20s. I mean I've been:
1. Medical Admin
2. Massage Therapist
3. Hint of a Public Speaker
4. Social Worker
5. Nanny

But throughout that odd list I felt a tug of heartstrings towards the kitchen and the pen, and now with some audacity I'm letting the flour and ink pull me along, facing this awkward phase in which professional questions feel just that...awkward. So I sincerely aspire to the 30s not being so friggin' maniacal. I might have to go get my soul retrieved if so.

Anyhow... What I mean to say is...
Here's to all the Santa Fean Magicians and Shamans and Soul Retrievers inspiring us Writers!
Here's to confidently stating what your heartstrings want you to state!

And I suppose I'll cheers to turning 30 soon.
Ok, Maybe.

The writer and food enthusiast in me has taken to the details of this place (and of course the sky). A few photos for you based on that theme...