Feathers and Stones - The Big Contest
Wayfarer, your tracks are
the way, and nothing else;
wayfarer, there is no way,
it becomes the way when you walk it,
when you walk it it becomes the way
- Antonio Machado
I decided what to do with the delicate and flowery gifts bestowed upon me (and all other reps) by Avon for my birthday and Christmas. It's a contest, sure, but it isn't a limerick trial or a race to see who can post the funniest joke. It's something more unusual, something that I hope changes my life and changes yours.
First, the prize!
The winner gets an original, one-of-a-kind Birdie-signed Garden Gnome, made from the smashed remnants of the Avon shwag. The gnome is roughly two glorious feet high! And will be outdoor ready by the time the contest ends! No photos until the winner is chosen, though! This is a contest of mystery!
The winner also gets four - four! - original Beauty Dish Avon stories by yours truly, signed, that have NEVER EVER appeared anywhere. All original and all funny! One of these stories I feel is the best story I ever wrote! The titles of these stories are:
Clam Chowder Lady and the Brick Oven Avon
Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get?
Birdie Does Dallas
Seven Men and a Bottle of Shampoo
But Wait! There's More! The winner also gets six brand new Avon Anew Clinical Laser Systems, designed to zap those unsightly spider veins and age spots! Woo Hoo!
And now for the rules:
I wanted to figure out a contest that would allow everyone to win in some important way. I wanted to figure out a contest that would allow everyone who even reads the entries to win. I wanted to win, too, to feel changed and renewed, to spread ideas of mystery and the unknown and our own human potential. So here's what you need to do:
Find something that scares you, that makes you question whether you can do it, whether you can't. Attempt to do it. Write about it, tell me why you chose what you chose, whether your attempt was victorious in the accomplishment of your task, or whether your attempt was victorious in the ways you realized you weren't coming full circle with it. Maybe you attempt to cross a railroad trestle by foot because you're terrified of heights. Or maybe you call up an estranged friend to make peace. Or maybe you go dancing in public for the first time. Or maybe you try a Polar Bear swim in the deep dark of this winter. It doesn't have to be huge, it doesn't have to cost money, it doesn't have to do anything but face a small or large fear, change your life.
Whatever you choose, you'll win because you're facing your fears, you're changing your life. Whatever you choose, we all win, because we'll be inspired by your telling of it.
The winner of the physical goods will be chosen by vote, and I'll explain that part later, but for now, you have a month to do something unusual, to face the unknown, to change your life. You have to do something new, it can't be something you did years ago. Write about it when you've completed your journey, send it in email to me. I'll post everyone's entries in a special section of the site here, and everyone can read and enjoy them.
Yeah, this is a tough contest. I'm going to do something unusual, too, but my entry of course can't win the stuff.
Discuss.
10:26:28 AM 
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