Apparently, my name is Carmen. While at a show I got approached and asked if I was Carmen, and got the once, twice, thrice over by a pretty blonde. In a class of mine, I look exactly like my classmate's best friend named Carmen. I meet some guy who told me I look like his ex-girlfriend's best friend Carmen. Well, I have never met her but I will tell you this, Carmen used to live in Minneapolis but moved to Brooklyn a little over a year ago for some job i think. She likes hats and scarves, motorcycle boots, has red hair, and apparently we have the same winter coat. Maybe I am her.
I moved to Minneapolis three years ago never expecting that my life here would teach me how small the world is instead of how large. When I came here, I was fascinated by big buildings, high heels, and lake street. There was nothing more interesting than exploring downtown, uptown, or a quiet corner of the warehouse district, which even today is my favorite place to wander aimlessly. Cities have always been special to me, and skylines have always had a sparkle that made me smile. Minneapolis didn't have me at hello, but the glittering lights of the city still gave me have butterflies when viewed from a distance and that was good enough for me.
Originally, I thought this was the world of anonymity and I settled comfortably into being unknown. after all, that was one of the reasons I came here. I wanted a new start and an adventure of sorts crafted only by me and my both stupid and wise decisions. However, in my time here I have realized how tiny this place actually is. The degrees of separation between people is scarily less than in my much smaller hometown.
The creative and driven in Minneapolis seem to flock together. A group of about 5,000 or so seem to all be tied in some way or another. These are the people you recognize in the Vitamn, The City Pages, and L'etoile magazine. It seems that here in Minneapolis, though I'm sure our city does not stand alone, the degrees of separation lie just under the surface. Individual creativity creates a mass conglomerate of people. This is the local locale. We find it in each other and have crafted a truly interesting personality for a city, one I am proud to be a part of.
I am not sure if you will remember this, and you definitely won't if you weren't reared in a christian or pseudo christian household, a hymn with lyrics "we are the church" reminds me of life here. Thankfully, I am not talking about church, but rather am referring to the "we are." We are the city, we are whatever we want to be.
There are the bikers, the hipsters, the musicians, the designers, artists, writers ect. They flock together and honestly it's really a beautiful thing. If you're not in a band in Minneapolis, chances are you know someone or several people that are. Local designers have fashion shows on a weekly basis and the venues for live music here are so abundant, that getting up on stage is almost like "old hat" despite the fact that it is quite a huge accomplishment for some. Its not that I don't love local shows and local music, because I really do love local, it's just that this place is saturated with it. Let's face it, people here are talented, but if Bob Dylan played on street corners in dinkytown today, I have to wonder if he would make it out of dinkytown. I'm no recording genius, but today not only can anyone make a record, but anyone can make a good record. With the right version of protools, I'm sure I could sound fucking fantastic and that is truly a scary fact.
Despite my negative tangent, my post was actually meant to be on the positive side. so oops. I'm leaving it in though, so deal with it. Sorry if you think Bob Dylan is fabulous, I guess I just think he's alright.
I actually wanted to talk about local in the very best way and about Local Karma. It is great that everyone has opportunities and I am actually quite happy anyone can make a record or sew a dress, it has the possibility to topple corporate structures, record labels, fashion labels, etc. and It is refreshing to be part of such a vibrant community. However, there are questions I am trying to answer about how to make it here. In order to be big here on the local level, or big anywhere for that matter, it seems you have to go big and network but not be pushy. it's all about balance.
I went to a band's final show the other night, and it had a great turnout, In addition to sounding excellent it made me think about local marketing and about outreach.
Going to shows here is one of the best things you can do. It is a sort of local Karma if you're local. You need to support local in order to survive local, and you need to survive local if you want to go beyond it. If you don't know anyone here or have no network within the powerful network of 6 degrees, the local locale, I promise you aren't going to have anyone come to a show or buy your line at the local Design Collective.
Here, or anywhere else for that matter, it's hard to be invisible if you participate. Midwestern at heart, we're polite but not minglers, so we have our ties and our 6 degrees of separation, love squares, and "how do I know you again" moments but it seems that this 6 degrees remains hidden unless you accidentally see it, or want to find it in the first place. With the advent of facebook, twitter, Blogger, etc people are easy to find and its true "every body's up to something." Chances are, someone or someones know who you are and what you're doing even though their on that last degree of separation. If you wanna make it here or make it out of here, reach out to that last degree, it will probably make you more en vogue than you already are or think you are. That's my plan at least. Timid success... that's all I want and hopfully karma will be on my side.
wishing the safety pin holds,
-stitches
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