June 22, 2008

Lost & Found

When I was in Jamaica last month treating myself to a much needed holiday, I purchased a pretty ankle bracelet from an artist on the beach. For the past month I've been wearing that bracelet as a touchstone for reminding myself of how I felt so lost and confused and then made the decision to move back to San Francisco.

The first morning of the Americans for the Arts Convention here in Philadelphia - Thursday - I noticed that the anklet fell off. Here and there I missed it but wasn't really bothered, It felt like a metaphor for being lost, finding myself and then letting when I re-connected with my fantastic arts network here at the Convention.

This morning I thought that I should at least ask at the Convention registration desk if they have a lost and found. Sure enough, there was my anklet sitting in a glass bowl set off to the site of the registration tables. Putting it back on was so wonderful - a reminder of being lost and found.

Being here with my fantastic network of arts and culture managers has reinforced how supportive I feel in returning home to San Francisco. People not only remembered me but had heard that I was returning, had been reading the blog and were so excited to reconnect when I finally land back in SF on June 28.

Truly lost and found.