Fernalicious Feminist has posted a nut loaf recipe, too! Hers, more usefully, is trimmed down to serve somewhat fewer than 5000.
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I went to my first Fest solo and single -- but I didn't go unprepared. I'm an introvert's introvert, a reader, a lover of ideas. One of my fears, embarking on this grand adventure, was the terror that I'd feel alone in a crowd. I'm almost 50, I thought -- they'll think I'm the Cryptkeeper. I'm in recovery, I thought. I'll be completely out of place in a big party. There would be me, and there would be 5000 womyn who've known one another for 35 years. This, I thought, is a recipe for disaster. I didn't want to drive for 15 hours and spend all that money to sit under a tree and feel desperately alone.
This is what I did. I had a year before the next Fest. I started to haunt the message boards -- the loving parts of them, where new Festies can get advice and share information. I asked questions. I got to know some names. I exchanged emails with a few generous womyn, and also a few womyn who, like me, were solo and nervous. That way, I started to establish my own "support group" before Fest even started.
I planned my official support activities. There were plenty of recovery meetings, I knew. There were also regular support meetings for womyn alone at Fest, womyn at Fest for the first time, and others. There was the Oasis tent -- the emotional support tent -- where I knew I could just stick my head in and sit for twenty minutes if I felt overwhelmed. In other words... I planned myself a community. I dug around on my regular mailing lists, looking for womyn who were going to Fest. I asked if anyone had friends of friends who were going, and I bit the bullet and sent some emails.
By the time I got to Fest, I knew a handful of people by name. I met some of them at a regularly scheduled meet and greet on Monday night -- then I had some faces to go with the names. I found my internet friends during the week. And every day, I met more womyn. In line for meals, in line at the shower, in line at the Saints concession stand, I met womyn. I didn't go to workshops that first year, but since then I've found that it's a way to meet womyn.
Fest is all about the networking. Between Fests there are camping trips, dances, concerts. There are mailing lists and other ways to keep in touch and make friends. By the time my second year rolled around, I was surprised to realize that me -- the introvert's introvert -- always knew at least one person wherever I went.
It's the sisterhood of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. The magic started to happen when I put myself out there... and it really blossomed the more I went back. The web expands. The circle widens.
What a gift!
