“The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion, and the tyranny of the dull mind forever threatens — but our lives are not as limited as we think they are, all things are possible, laughter is holier than piety, freedom is sweeter than fame, and in the end it’s love and love alone that really matters.”
-Tom Robbins
For the past month I have been immersed in a new-to-me culture. I created and launched a Kickstarter campaign. Right now we’re 63% funded with 7 days to go. Check out the link at the bottom of this post.
My Kickstarter campaign has worked me in some deep and holy ways. The creation, distillation and launch was an experience all to itself. We’re mid-campaign now and the lessons are all about asking and receiving. For me these lessons are so deep that they really should read: Asking. Receiving. (Repeat!)
Truly you should just go watch Amanda Palmer here: http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking
Because what she says and how she says it is just the best. If you plan to do a Kickstarter yourself, I’d say this video is a must watch (twice).
Kickstarter is a crowd sourced funding platform. An on-line, super efficient, user friendly platform for crowd sourced funding. People use it to produce music, make films, launch businesses, publish books and more. A person designs a campaign around their great idea and asks friends, friend’s friends and the world wide web to vote for this dream with their dollars. People do. They do it gladly. And communities form. Its completely amazing. On March 3, 2014, Kickstarter passed ONE BILLION in pledges. That’s $1,000,000,000 pledged by 5.7 million people to creative projects! I highly recommend taking some time to surf the projects at Kickstarter.com. I can almost guarantee you’ll be a backer by the end. There are many amazingly creative and next level projects.
Like this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless-smart-in-ear-headphones?ref=live These German guys and their genius wireless ear buds that are 1,027% funded! They set their goal at 260,000, a bold move for Kickstarter (most successfully funded projects ask for $10,000 or less) and so far they’ve got 2,948 backers, pledging $2,738,411 and they still have 20 days to go.
And OMG this! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/harebrainedinc/period-panties?ref=live A Chicago guy who puts silly cartoons on comfy undies for ladies. In his words, “Fun underwear that high-fives you for having ovaries and serves as a friendly reminder to others!” I must say that the undies do look comfy, the cartoons are hilarious, the campaign presentation is great and the video is humble and adorable. But here’s why I’m in love with this campaign. The guy asked for $10,000 for his first production run. Today, he’s got 31 hours to go and the pledges are at $388,476.00 from 9,209 individual backers!
A clear example of the power of Kickstarter (which is really the power of organized people): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lindaliukas/hello-ruby?ref=live Hello Ruby is a children’s book that teaches programming fundamentals through stories and kid-friendly activities. She was looking to generate $10,000 to publish it. But with the help of 9,258 backers she raised $380,747.00!
The Dream of a little kid comes true in real life right here. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1118548804/sequoia-emmanuelle-photography-book?ref=live. Since she was 13, artist and photographer, Sequoia Emmanuelle, wanted to make her own coffee table book. She launched a Kickstarter to do it just a day before I launched my own. Her work is astounding and addicting, so it is no surprise that with 9 days to go she’s got $19,761 pledged from 264 backers. Her original goal was $15,000.
Lastly, a campaign after my own heart: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/661201405/the-rogue-valley-messenger-a-free-alternative-news?ref=live The Rogue Valley Messenger is “a new, locally-grown bi-weekly newspaper for the Rogue Valley – informed, enthused and crazy-smart!” Their campaign is simple, clear and compelling. They’re out to inform and connect this valley! Today, with just 111 backers they’ve raised $5,097, surpassing their original goal with 42 hours to go. I’m one of those backers!
Two words come to mind when I think about how to describe the experience of doing this Kickstarter campaign. The words are big and deep. Big because your vision must be both clear and clearly communicated. And big because you must love what you are doing. Deep because each backer is voting for your success and each backer is kicking in to your stash from their own to make your dreams come true. That’s a whole lot of love flowing your way.
So tonight as I’m thinking about all this, BAM! My friend Micah Blacklight shares these words facebook and captures all of how and where I’m growing in one incredible expression. He says, “I think it was Ghandi who is attributed the quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” and I think it SUCH a profound exhortation. I would amend it, add to it, transform it a little by saying-EMBODY THE SPACES YOU WISH TO EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD.
so many of us wait for someone else to be the welcoming space, the open arms, the one willing to lower their guard, and only then do we dare follow suit. What if YOU chose to BE the space more often, instead of looking to others to provide it? What if you BECAME the kind of space, held the kind of energy, you are super attracted to in people you look up to, or admire, or just feel good around?
It might take you a moment to overcome the fear that inevitably rises up when we step outside our comfort zones. It might take realizing we fear all kinds of things: rejection in ANY form including someone not responding to our space in a way we would have liked.. but we don’t get good at things without practice.
You can think of it as another homework assignment Micah BlackLight style; a mission you don’t have to accept at all, but it might do some thangs for ya you haven’t foreseen.. bring a bit of a different kind of fun into your sphere. Because the minute you start BEING the space you’re really attracted to or comforted by, you become a walking realm full of those characteristics, the vibe you’re diggin most. AND, there’s an automatic side-effect: you start attracting a lot more people who hold/are that kind of space, OR, they’re open to being opened BY that type of space and guess what? YOU get to be the key.. Vessel space is a powerful space.
work dat out for a mo.. chew on it if ya wanna, you might already be in the practice of doing/being that, and if you are, keep doin whatcha doin.. it heals a LOT more than you know”.
YES! Think about it. At this moment my project has 155 backers. That’s 155 people saying to me with $1 or $1000, “This projects rocks and I’m stoked to help it happen.” I flung myself off the cliff of small, safe and comfortable, KNOWING that people in the world and in my community would be delighted by my willingness to do it. That my vision would be shared and supported. And while my campaign is not safely complete well before the deadline like Sequoia’s or a slammed-dunk-home-run like the Period Panties still, I’ve got 155 people voting for me with their hard earned dollars and I have to believe more are on the way! People are sharing the project on their social network and talking about it with friends and people are getting excited to support the place once we open. The impact of this is impossible to predict. I like that.
The experience of campaigning for this dream via Kickstarter has been nothing short of amazing. The way people become backers, the way friends share the link with their networks, the way total strangers become cheerleaders… it exciting, humbling, empowering! Yesterday one of my High School English teacher gave the link a shout out on her facebook page and I was so damn touched I can’t even tell you. So you can imagine how I burst into tears when, a few hours later, I realized that she had also become a backer! There’s magic like that in this. With 7 days left the story unfolds.
uberherbalmama 