So, I got a call this afternoon from Susan Anderson, founder of the ArtReach Foundation. She says to me, "well... I have a surprise invitation for you" and everything in me just sort of stopped. Once the word "Jordan" came out of her mouth, everything else was just babel. We had discussed Jordan before. Three maybe four weeks of doing expressive therapy workshops for educators, refugees, caregivers, patients., etc... but it did not happen. Things just did not line up. Not to mention that it was right on the verge of "Arab Spring". I was devestated. I had been preparing. I used "Jordan" as an opportunity to finally change my name. I had been carrying my married name for years after my ex-husband and I had divorced for no good reason at all. I was not holding onto something or avoiding something else. I was just too lazy to do it (said the excuse maker). So I took going to Jordan to get a new drivers license (and take a new picture for God's Sake!) and renew my passport. I finally, officially, changed my name from Chambers back to my family name of Dillard. I was starting to re-invent myself. Starting to remember who I was as a human being and who I was professionally. My sister once left me a voice message saying that we must really love our names because we both referred to ourselves on our outgoing messages by our first AND last names. And now it's KarimahDillard.com and karimahdillard.blogspot.com. It really has been a reclamation of sorts. A re-naming and re-claiming of myself.
And now the opportunity to go to Jordan has presented itself again. Jordan in June is now a reality. Stay posted.
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