January 21 - Gingerbread Man

One of  the most fun things to do at a balloon convention is to twist in the Jam room with the multitude of people and every size/shape/color balloon at your fingertips - and one of the coolest people I met at my first balloon conventions was Helen Budinger.  One of the many things she showed me was this cute little quick gingerbread man.

I was overwhelmed and intimidated in the room, hypercritical of my own work, I remember confessing that I didn't really know what to do with the quantity of balloons I would create when practicing a new design, and she gave me one of the greatest tips I've heard - effectively, "Get over yourself."

I come to balloon twisting from Origami, and it's hard to shake that perfect-or-fail attitude.  What I might think is a terrible balloon based on how I WANTed it to be, still might be amazing to some and would definitely spread happiness (in fact, this mis-sized arm is driving me a little nuts).   It was on her advice that I brought in my first balloon deliveries to my school and workplace, I was nervous, I stammered apologies and said they can get rid of them if they want to. They have love all all of them, and I feel practically like a celebrity every time I drop something off.

Helen -  you're a gem!  Thank you!

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