BRATTLEBORO — My very first encounter with Brattleboro was not necessarily love at first sight. In fact, I was not sure how to react to several aspects of the town, especially the many characters who seemed to all dwell here. It definitely seemed more “city” than my first introduction to Vermont several years prior.
But in the fall of 2008, after a few months of visiting back and forth, my defenses started to come down and I can tell you the exact moment I started to develop a love for the quirked-out town.
It was early December of that year, and I was standing on the street corner waiting to cross. Then, instead of buzzing, I heard the sound of something akin to a bird chirp.
Prior to the walk signal, I took a moment to observe the scene. Someone was just playing music on one of the street corners, people seemed to just wear anything they wanted to, and and individuals just seemed to enjoy the leisurely interruptions to their day.
The pace was very much unlike what I witnessed in Connecticut, where part of my persona was walking fast - especially with high-heeled shoes. It still is - well, not so much now, due to the steep inclines here.
While I continued to have a mix of emotions about Brattleboro (for example, witnessing the drug problem here is one of the many things that break my heart), I did notice that I felt more inspired during my three-to-four-day visits.
I wanted to explore more of the wooded areas to see what secrets they had to show me. I tasted my first authentic chai here in one of my favorite places. (I always joked that it really was the Twilight Tea Lounge that seduced me into coming to Brattleboro.) I felt a hunger to re-engage with bellydance through the Brattleboro School of Dance.
The more I visited, the more my inspiration and appetite for producing and consuming creativity blossomed.
The more I became seduced by the Green Mountains and started to form friendships here, the more I encountered many individuals who seemed to be constantly creating or taking calculated risks to integrate art into their lives.
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As my fire was fed, Brattleboro - all of Vermont, for that matter - continued to introduce itself to me through a lot of firsts.
I experienced my first farmers' market, where I eventually became inspired to purchase fresh flowers for my dwelling. I also experienced my first apple orchard and strawberry patch.
I encountered my first co-op. I come from the land of Whole Foods stores in Connecticut, and it never occurred to me to seek out something other than supermarkets. I experienced kayaking for the first time.
Windham County also provided tons of opportunities for me to learn my camera before jetting off to India for five months. Vermont was also the first place to unlock my need to examine the unseen through exploring abandoned landscapes.
I officially moved here in 2010, and while many things were unexpected in Vermont, I also learned about facing fear and risking opening myself to truly explore my creative expression.
I've been married to writing for over 20 years, yet sharing my work or even reading it it to an audience scared me. I felt the same way about self-expression through movement, but dance intoxicated me.
During my time of becoming a part of the Brattleboro community, I challenged myself to share the fruits of my creative union with the world, though it scared me.
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In many ways, ARTstravaganza is very personal because it provides an opportunity to share all of the things that inspired me to fall in love with some of the creative opportunities the region has to offer: the puppetry, dancing, and music that stirs the soul, the art in unexpected places, the kismet conversations that provide their own alleyways and avenues of surprise that will easily deliver one to the doorstep of inspiration.
Vermont (specifically, Brattleboro) challenged me in a lot of ways to be who I claimed I was in the world by extending an invitation to truly live my creative life out loud.
This region encouraged me to stay while continually throwing uncomfortable moments my way, daring me to bring more of myself to the table especially through creative expression.
It will not totally be impossible for one to become downright seduced by all of the tastes, sounds, and sights of inspiration in motion.
That is what continues to happen to me.