Happy May! It's one of my favourite months. Of course, I also say that about June, July, August, September, October...
You get the idea.
This post isn't about May, though; it's about my weekend.
Last year I went to a comic-con for the first time. The Calgary Expo, to be more specific.
I don't think my husband had any idea what he was in for when he took me. Suffice it to say, I got really, really into it.
So much so, that I wrote about it twice, once before and once immediately following. If you want to see more about it (including pictures!), you can see my first post about it here, and my second post here.
Part of what I talked about was a panel I went to with self-published authors talking about their craft.
"Meeting and listening to others in this crazy field, who stepped out across that rickety bridge toward publication, over the chasm of uncertainty and failure, and made it across, was quite motivational."
Well, this past weekend I got to go again, and oh my goodness, was it a great time!
I spent a bit of time in the couple weeks leading up to it prepping outfits. I can see how people get really into cosplay. Wow, is there some creativity there! So last weekend, for example, not only did I finish a chapter and complete a set of critiques for my writing group, but I made jewelry for one of my outfits, which I made myself (well, re-purposed).
There is such an outlet for creativity at these things. Last time I went, I saw most of the event through the eyes of enthusiasm, being unapologetically excited for something.
This time, I saw it through the creative lens. Cosplay in particular really allows people to live as one of their favourite characters, at least for a while. Something, someone, in some story, speaks to them and grabs their attention, and makes them say, yes, this is someone I want to act like and look like, at least for an afternoon.
Everyone at the panels is a form of storyteller, whether they are creating comics or in film or television, or something in between. There are writers there, too, and several writing and author-focused panels. But every single person there was there because of some story, some role in some story.
(Plus, I got to see the voices of my three favourite Disney princesses! Yay!)
That's pretty freaking awesome.
If you could be any character for a day, who would you choose?
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