Madison Austin repurposes prom dresses by redesigning & updating them before she gifts them to others.

Transformation Style

As soon as Madison Austin received her first sewing machine she began to dream.  And, work.  She was eight years old then.  That was also the same year she dreamed, designed and crafted her first prom dress.  That inaugural, full length dress was white and lacey; just like her smile.

“The whole process was a transformation for me!”  Madison (Maddy) says with a wistful look.

That longing-like expression didn’t last too long, as she changed back into the twenty-two-year old woman she is today, instantaneously.  She’s not that little girl any longer.  She’s a senior at the University of Arkansas and will start law school next year.  A lot has changed for her, but one thing hasn’t changed.  She still loves to create prom dresses, transformation style.

“She takes donated prom dresses that have been sitting in a closet somewhere and modernizes them.”  Her grandmother explained.  “Sometimes she’ll take two or three of them and fashion them into something fresh and wonderful!”

Once the transformation is complete Maddy gives them to a young woman who cannot afford to purchase such a dress.  Perhaps it would have been best to say that Maddy begins a transformation by redesigning the dresses.  The final transformation comes as she gifts her new creation.

“I love the whole process of transformation even more now!”  Maddy exclaims.  “When I see the beneficiary’s face change, as she opens her gift, it’s as if I’ve become part of something magical!”

That magic, Maddy describes, is spreading through others now as well.

“I’m going to donate makeup to these women.”  Her friend, Donna, chipped in as we were watching Maddy work as a model.  “And, we have a friend who is a hair artist who has just jumped into our little gig!”

 

No.  Madison isn’t that little girl anymore.  At least on the outside.  She has transformed herself, as well as many others beyond herself.  And, that’s a testament to strength of the real magic that powers genuine transformation.  It is so meaningful that it simply can’t be contained.

As soon as Madison Austin received her first sewing machine something transformational began to happen.  She was eight years old then.  That was also the same year she dreamed, designed and crafted her first prom dress.  That first full length dress was white and lacey; just like her smile.

“The whole process was a transformation for me!”  Maddy said with a wistful look, before she went to work her magic on the runway as a model.

And, her magic doesn’t stop there.  Hers is a powerful, genuine transformation, of such influence that it gifts transformation to others.  Many others.

Something Good is Happening

“My kids have been working to help our family!” – Maria White

Something Good is Happening

I didn’t come to work with Maria White on this particular Friday afternoon to have my heart changed.  I didn’t even arrive at our office on the town square to receive additional hope. When I did arrive, early in the afternoon, the sky was cloudy and rain was threatening.  There was a steady breeze animating the trees and crinkling the once still puddles dotting the sidewalks and streets.  In all, it was a gray day, punctuated with lively movement and bright green foliage.  I guess I should have paid more attention to that positive movement and brightness at the time, since it was a scene the rest of the afternoon would emulate.  But, in my defense, I had never before moved to open one door to find that I had really opened another.

When I say, I had really opened another door, I’m giving myself way too much credit.  I more accurately should have said that I simply showed up and listened.  It was listening to Maria’s story and taking it to heart that opened an unexpected door for me.

“I haven’t met you.”  Maria said when I arrived. Then we settled in to work.  But, it wasn’t all work.  We also spent time talking, getting to know each other.  And Maria’s tale illustrates that the only way to truly improve our relationships and communities is find our way back to each other.

“As the pandemic started my husband lost his job.  Then he found a new job only to get laid off again within a short time.”  She explained.  “That’s when my kids stepped up and began to help.”

The afternoon was still gray outside, but Maria’s story was filled with dynamic movement and was punctuated with the brightness of hope. When faced with adversity she and her family could have lost all confidence and had their spirits completely broken.  But, they rallied around each other and discovered at least three significant things.

First, they never loosened their bonds of relationship.  They rediscovered that their challenges are an amazing opportunity to strengthen their connection by serving each other.

Second, they focused on changing their hearts individually.  They moved forward through action, saying “I’m helping you because we’re all family!”

Third, they found that they already had everything they needed.  Each other.

As I listened I was glad Maria and I had found each other too. I didn’t come to work on this particular Friday afternoon to have my heart changed.  I didn’t even arrive at our office on the town square to receive additional hope. When I did arrive, early in the afternoon, the sky was cloudy and rain was threatening.  There was a steady breeze animating the trees and crinkling the once still puddles dotting the sidewalks and streets.  Outside, it was a gray day, punctuated with lively movement and bright green foliage.  And inside?  I paid riveted attention to Maria’s story of love and brightness of hope, since it sets the scene the rest of the of us emulate.  

Our continuing story can be one focused on showing charity to all, with malice to none, so something good will happen for every one in our human family.

Losing, And, Finding Yourself

“I’ve lost my keys.  I guess I’ll need to retrace my steps.” – Shavere Marinski

Losing, And, Finding Yourself

“I’ve lost my keys!”  My friend Shav said as we were talking on the phone together.  “It isn’t the first time.”  He continued.

Shav was talking about his car and house keys.  But those aren’t the only kinds of things that can be lost.  Since it was he and I talking and we’re close friends, I also remembered a time not long ago when we were having a very different conversation.

“I’m just at my wit’s end!” Shav explained with his head bowed toward the table we were sitting on.  “I seem to have completely lost myself!  My happiness and purpose have fled.”

Now I was listening to him outline the steps he was going to take to find his keys.  And, I marveled that they were the same steps he took to find meaning in his life again. Discovering that the formula for finding his keys, as well as himself, was the same was a substantial eye-opener. Here is his simple, yet powerful formula.

First, he began by retracing his steps.  Shav spent some quiet, internal time, walking mentally backward, from the exact moment where he first recognized his loss, vividly reviewing each step, one at a time, until he discovered some clues as to where he had last had what he was looking for.

Second, he next physically followed the path he had intellectually mapped out in sequence.  For example, Shav went to his closet and looked in the pockets of the last trousers he’d worn.  When what he’d lost wasn’t there, he simply followed his mental map and took the next step.

Third, as he was following his path he talked with others around him, asking if they’d seen what he’d lost.  One thing of import here is that even though those he approached didn’t know where what he lost was, they were really anxious to help him. After all, loss is universal to all. That meant he increased his capacity to work toward his success immediately when the very first person he spoke with volunteered to be of assistance!

Finally, he dedicated time and action to find what was lost. In other words, he decided to really focus on recovery and he found that engaging in the process itself generated new purpose and passion which grew with each small step he took!  There are a couple of other take-aways here.  

While finding lost keys is important and, in some cases, even imperative, finding keys often pales in comparison to Shav’s struggle to once again find happiness and meaning. In that specific regard here’s what Shav’s experience additionally illuminates.

When you find something, a goal or passion, you’re in love with, you automatically find the strength, passion, the courage, to go up against the constant tests that come at you every day.  When Shav became anxiously engaged in rediscovering joy he was transformed, not completely in an instant, but by gaining strength, step by step.

With each step forward, he discovered that his greatest personal power was hidden behind the thing he feared the very most; that he’d never again he happy!  Confronting this fear head-on allowed him to discover that he never would have awakened the talent secreted deep within himself had he not confronted the abysmal darkness he courageously chose to challenge.  And, it all started as soon as he decided to take even the smallest of all steps forward; retracing his steps back to a point where he remembered having what he once had.  Then, each incremental step increased his strength to continue on.

“I’ve found my keys!”  My friend Shavere Marinski said, just a day or so after our last conversation. But, as he was announcing this good news, I realized it wasn’t the most important thing he’s been able to reconcile recently.  And, I smiled, while enjoying the satisfied feeling in my heart, as I remembered a time, not long ago, when we were celebrating the recovery of his joy.

He had lost, and found himself again.

Mournful Mooing

Being Eighty-Fived?

Mournful Mooing

“Why in the world are you just standing there?”  I asked the huge Angus Steer, Eighty-Five.  “That mournful mooing isn’t doing you any good at all!”

Of course, I already knew why he was acting this way.  It was separation time.  The Dexter breed were standing across the fence from him eating.  He was standing next to the bull feeder, where he is normally fed.  He’d watched as I threw hay over the fence to the reddish-brown clan of cows he usually shared food with.  But, if Eighty-Five is one thing, he is stubborn.

After feeding the Dexters, with the Angus looking-on, I loaded up the wheelbarrow with more hay and walked right toward the bull feeder and the Three-Big-Boys, so they’d see their food and follow me to the paddock.  I walked slowly, using an encouraging, “come-on, follow me” speech.  The sound of heavy, lugging footsteps fell in behind me, so I didn’t bother to look back until I reached the paddock and ejected the carried-dinner for the lumbering, hungry steers.  But, only two had come.

“That’s odd!”  I exclaimed, as if speaking to an unseen friend.

With wheelbarrow in hand and the missing steer in sight I left the paddock and walked forward toward him.  His feet were planted firmly in the ground.  His eyes were focused, gazing, coveting the forage being eaten by his adopted bovine clan.  Saliva was streaming from all corners of his mouth and it dripped toward the ground as he verbalized his displeasure of self-professed injustice.

“You realize all you need to do is to turn a little to your right and walk?  Right?”  I chided with a chuckle.  “Your behavior is pathetic!  Your decision to just stand here, looking over that fence, while complaining in full bellyache tone doesn’t accomplish anything.  When you decide to take even one step toward earning what you want, your situation will change completely!”

Then, I took a step forward, away from him, to leave, while continuing to hear his self-pronouncing song of injustice.  For one brief moment a thought of intervention entered my mind, because of his repeated call.  I paused.

“He’ll figure it out!”  I huffed, while walking on.

He stood.  I left.

I left again in the morning.  This time from my home. The cool wet grass was soft under foot as I walked through the field, past the food-anticipating Dexter, toward the bull feeder where Eighty-Five had been standing the night before.  A smile spread across my face when he wasn’t there.

“Why in the world are you just standing there?”  I had asked the huge Angus Steer, Eighty-Five, the night before.  “That mournful mooing isn’t doing you any good at all!”

Of course, I already knew why he was acting this way.  It was separation time.  The Dexter breed were standing across the fence from him, eating.  He was standing next to the bull feeder, where he is normally fed.  He’d watched as I threw hay over the fence to the reddish-brown clan of cows.  But, if Eighty-Five is one thing, he is stubborn.

“I can be just as stubborn as he had been at times!”  I said to myself as I filled the wheelbarrow with hay for the Three-Big-Boys standing, waiting for me in the paddock.  “I just hope I can always be smart enough not to Eighty-Five myself in the future!”  

Now, or in our future, there will likely be a time when our eyes, yours or mine, are focused, gazing, coveting the things or accomplishments of our neighbor. Yes, we may even have saliva, born of personal desire, streaming from all corners of our mouth as we verbalize our displeasure of self-proclaimed injustice in mournful manner.  But, we should never Eighty-Five ourselves!  

After all, one hulking steer has shown us that we simply need to turn to our right, or left, and walk, forward to our desired accomplishment or destination and work.  When you and I decide to take even one step toward earning what we want, we change our present situation completely!