I got an email that made me go, huh?
And then I listened to the podcast linked in the email.
Imagine MKE is an amazing organization driven by basically six amazing humans doing the work of 600.
Their mission:
Imagine MKE envisions a future inspired by arts and culture. We are the convener, connector, and amplifier of the arts and culture community in the city. Our network of arts, civic, and business leaders are united to advance arts and culture as the catalyst for social and economic vitality in our city.
That city being Milwaukee, in case you’re unfamiliar with what the MKE stands for. And I’m not even really sure how I fell into their Zooms over the pandemic, but one of the lifelines in said pandemic has been this Small Arts & Culture Organizations affinity group held on the last Thursday of every month where we sit around on Zoom and try to solve the issue of having zero dollars to operate as a small org.
Basically caused by Wisconsin being 49th in state arts funding. And Capitalism not giving a shit about the arts.
So I go to these Small Org meetings, and then join in on some Imagine Marketing and Public Policy work groups and things just to, lend a hand I guess, when I can.
Then I also do the You’ve Got a Thing! webcast for the Milwaukee Theatre Alliance on Fridays and try to spread the word of Imagine at the end of episodes to try to and get more people on the Arts Advocacy train. And as a thank you for letting me use their Streamyard platform because it makes the work of a tiny producer SO much easier. Really, I don’t know what I’d do without it. Those first Zoom episodes were ROUGH.
All of this is to say I’ve embedded myself in the outskirts of the Imagine bubble pretty well for the past 18 months or so. And it’s really just because I feel so much better about things after I leave their meetings because of all the positive output. Totally selfish.
So when you get an email from Mac saying “Imagine This Podcast just celebrated you on our latest episode...” you kinda gotta go, well, okay…..?
At about 9:00 – and as they say at the start maybe someday these will be "real" awards, but for now – I'm called the "Imaginier of the Year" by the Good Humans of Imagine. I can't even begin to explain to you how much I needed these words of kindness. I really choked up when heard the shout out. That’s how much I needed that tiny kindness right now. The past month. The past two years. Fuck this pandemic. Really.
WORDS MATTER.
Tell people you’re proud of them. Tell people thank you. Tell people you’re happy they’re around. It matters. And it makes people feel good when everything can feel like such a challenge right now.
Even when things don’t feel like a challenge, just tell someone they matter and you appreciate them. Especially people you work with. Especially in the arts where money is so hard to find and so many people volunteer because they love the art.
Listen to the whole podcast HERE.
Then listen to more of them on your favorite podcast platform. Then watch You’ve Got a Thing! to see my ugly mug on a weekly basis. Then check out the Advocacy tools Imagine has that can help those in Milwaukee bug the shit out of their Representatives to get more money in the arts. Because we fucking need it.