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An Airline Connection

Randi Chervitz

On the plane earlier this week, my seatmate, a woman younger than I with flash-tattooed arms and lovely caramel streaks in her hair, asked if I had made the rings I wore on my fingers.


"You were dozing," she said, "and I noticed your rings. They're beautiful. They look handmade. Did you make them?" she asked. Trying not to reveal too much girlish pleasure in her remarks, I replied that I had. "Yeah, I make some jewelry," I said.


The girl was flying back home for not one, but two funerals, scheduled later in the week. The deceased were two family members, and aunt and a cousin. I expressed my condolences but chose not to probe further. This sweet girl gamely smiled and said she would be meeting her sister, who was also flying in for the services. They hadn't seen each other in a year and a half, she said, and their flights were arriving at similar times. They would reunite at the airport. I marveled that she found the silver lining in her current circumstance.


I'm not much of a talker on flights; I'm more of a sleeper. In my work as an estate buyer, we tend to catch early morning flights to ensure we'll make it to our destinations without a hitch. Several of my coworkers were on this flight, heading into an East coast airport. Upon arrival, we would rent cars and fan out to multiple locations in neighboring states. As the Lead on my team, I tended to tune out on flights, stockpiling my energy to focus on the next step in getting us to our destination.


"I've been wanting to learn how to make earrings," my seatmate volunteered. She said she was from Austin, a place known for being "weird," in a really good way. Being "weird" can often lead to a vibrant art community and some terrific artmaking. I had a feeling she was already in-tune to the community.


Happy to come out of my airplane stupor to support a fellow Creative, I mentioned an Austin artist I used to see on the art fair and trade show circuits, Lisa Crowder, whose work I always admired. (Still do!) That was the extent of my knowledge of Austin, however.


"How did you start making jewelry?" my air companion asked.


"I was the 'art kid' at school," I said. "I got a lot of positive reinforcement for making things." I hadn't thought about this in a while. My relationship to my own creativity has been in question over the past couple of years- not wavering, exactly... just sort of weaving in and out as the rest of my life progressed. My role as a buyer puts me in close proximity to art objects made by other people, and more importantly, the emotions the owners invest in those pieces. This connection is one of my favorite parts of being an artist- being able to touch another person through an object I made. But sometimes, I thought, perhaps the world has enough stuff already. Hmm.. it's possible that may be so. But that can't negate the value of that connection, can it? And value is my stock -in-trade...


"So many of us get the creativity trained out of us when we're young," I continued. "That didn't happen for me."


My seatmate smiled. Her ink and attitude seemed to indicate she understood what it meant to feel the need to make things and be emotionally rewarded for it.


I noticed she had a book in her lap, Mitch Ablom's for one more day.


"Hey, if you don't mind," I began. "I have a bookmark with my web address on it. May I give you one?"


I had printed these cards within the past year or so to serve as business cards but also bookmarks. I did this to remind myself of my dream to write, as well as continue my jewelry journey.


"Sure," she replied, and turned to face me while I fished it out of my bag.


I handed her the bookmark. She held it in the book for the duration of the flight. As we disembarked, I wished her good luck on her upcoming week.


"Thanks, Randi," she said, and walked off to find her sister.


-xo


Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash


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