soodie . 40 years old / denver . colorado
"no", said the black woman on the mall street without stopping. "yes, if you buy one of my magazines", said the bearded guy that approached me on the mall street. "no", said the older white woman with the long grey hair. and yet another "no" came from another black woman who needed to get back to work. three no's and a yes weighted with a bribe stole my confidence and courage and left me feeling exhausted.
i felt particularly out of place today. i despise feeling like a salesman. i am not selling anything. i just want to meet people and introduce them to you. i want to learn more about my neighbors. and the world. so many people have their guard up. the call of skepticism rings louder to me every day and it is never easy to ignore.
i had some errands to run in the process, but i spent about an hour out on the street, watching the crowds go by, trying to find the courage to ask people to slow down, to put trust in someone else, to open up. the mall street, as per usual, was not my friend today and i really need to just stay away from it. i eventually grew tired of waiting, tired of feeling like a creep, tired of the rejections and walked away to wrap up my final errand.
i hopped on my bicycle with the friendly territory of capitol hill as my destination. as i came up to an intersection, though, i saw this lone woman standing there, waiting for traffic to pass so she could cross the street. i pedaled up onto the sidewalk and said "excuse me". she replied with a tough, "what?!". happy that she even paused to respond to me, i gave her the story. "is this for a blog?", she asked, so i kept talking.
soodie was my savior today. she was bashful and embarrassed to have her photo taken, but underneath her shyness was a warm smile and a good heart. for some reason, i immediately started to care about her like i care from my friends. her spirit met mine with the hug of a life-long friendship.
her husband is in town for a conference, so she was touring around town. they came out here from kansas city. and it is important to note that they're from the missouri side, not kansas! i'm not sure i'd want to be from kansas, either.
soodie is a fine art appraiser. she keeps a blog where you can read about her adventures at http://soodiebeasley.blogspot.com/ - you should take a look. i was immediately drawn in by the illustrations.
i can't thank soodie enough. she made me feel like i wasn't totally wasting my time with this project. as we talked and photographed, her timidity crumbled, exposing her charming personality. she told me she supported people's personal projects and understands how it feels to embark on your own. i pedaled away from our meeting feeling much better, greatly encouraged, and stronger.
thank you, soodie!
"no", said the black woman on the mall street without stopping. "yes, if you buy one of my magazines", said the bearded guy that approached me on the mall street. "no", said the older white woman with the long grey hair. and yet another "no" came from another black woman who needed to get back to work. three no's and a yes weighted with a bribe stole my confidence and courage and left me feeling exhausted.
i felt particularly out of place today. i despise feeling like a salesman. i am not selling anything. i just want to meet people and introduce them to you. i want to learn more about my neighbors. and the world. so many people have their guard up. the call of skepticism rings louder to me every day and it is never easy to ignore.
i had some errands to run in the process, but i spent about an hour out on the street, watching the crowds go by, trying to find the courage to ask people to slow down, to put trust in someone else, to open up. the mall street, as per usual, was not my friend today and i really need to just stay away from it. i eventually grew tired of waiting, tired of feeling like a creep, tired of the rejections and walked away to wrap up my final errand.
i hopped on my bicycle with the friendly territory of capitol hill as my destination. as i came up to an intersection, though, i saw this lone woman standing there, waiting for traffic to pass so she could cross the street. i pedaled up onto the sidewalk and said "excuse me". she replied with a tough, "what?!". happy that she even paused to respond to me, i gave her the story. "is this for a blog?", she asked, so i kept talking.
soodie was my savior today. she was bashful and embarrassed to have her photo taken, but underneath her shyness was a warm smile and a good heart. for some reason, i immediately started to care about her like i care from my friends. her spirit met mine with the hug of a life-long friendship.
her husband is in town for a conference, so she was touring around town. they came out here from kansas city. and it is important to note that they're from the missouri side, not kansas! i'm not sure i'd want to be from kansas, either.
soodie is a fine art appraiser. she keeps a blog where you can read about her adventures at http://soodiebeasley.blogspot.com/ - you should take a look. i was immediately drawn in by the illustrations.
i can't thank soodie enough. she made me feel like i wasn't totally wasting my time with this project. as we talked and photographed, her timidity crumbled, exposing her charming personality. she told me she supported people's personal projects and understands how it feels to embark on your own. i pedaled away from our meeting feeling much better, greatly encouraged, and stronger.
thank you, soodie!
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