Icons

In case you've been spending some time under a rock this week and missed the news, David Bowie died this week.  For a lot of people this was shrug the shoulders news, for others it was a devastating loss of a cultural icon and someone whose music and individuality spoke to them personally.

For myself, I always admired how true he was to his vision, wherever that took him.  I loved his pop music - much of it is the soundtrack of my teenage years and I still know many of the songs by heart.  I loved that he married and stayed married and apparently in love for 23 years.  I love that he died on his terms.  It's funny how musicians become a part of the fabric of our lives, we remember concerts and dances and parties and moments vividly as the threads of the music these musicians created play.  It's cheap and effective time travel - an instant transporter to another time, another chapter in our lives.  

For some friends, as part of a joke, I made Bowie badges this week.  They are meant to be silly, but they are also a reminder of friendship and connections and why we spend time doing things for others.  While I am not devastated by the death of a man who lived a good and fulfilling life on his terms, some of my friends are feeling the loss deeply.  They found a connection to him and his personas and his music at at time in their lives when connections are hard to find.  The badges were meant to honor that, just as a scout badge honors a skill learned.

It was a lot of fun and it got me to thinking that it would be a fun social "class."  Come make a badge that honors something important in your life - your friends, your family, an idea that keeps you going.  Share your badge with others as they too might honor what you choose to emphasize.  We'll put this together pretty quickly and you should see it on the schedule soon.

Working on this little aside project reminded me that it's good to take time to do something irrelevant.  Nobody's head was going to stay warm with these, no one's bottom covered.  It was a whim I woke up with after a silly conversation with friends.  Creativity can come out of anywhere.  Sometimes I forget that.

Robin