Gertrude Stein Talks Purpose

Imagine a home filled with the likes of Picasso, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Matisse. Not their works, but the actual men. Gertrude Stein hosted writers and artists such as these in her home in 1920’s Paris. Her salons placed her at the center of the avant-garde art movement. My aspirations are not so grand. Though my ambitions for starting my own salon may seem altruistic, I assure the reader, they are completely selfish.

In 2016, I returned to Phoenix after a stint in Peace Corps. I wanted to continue to be of service, so I applied for a new assignment only to be rejected. Peace Corps steers away from career volunteers with the intent to give as many people as possible the opportunity to serve. I had already been in Namibia two years longer than my original commitment required.

Plan B: I became a certified ESL, English as a Second Language, instructor to teach English abroad. Age discrimination became an issue. Not that it isn’t possible, but many overseas educational organizations prefer younger teachers, as in twentysomethings. I lowered my standards as to what assignments were acceptable. Then I lowered them some more. Finally, I said, “Enough.” One thing I learned from my Peace Corps experience was that once I lay the groundwork, if it is meant to happen it will. This was not happening.

If I could not find somewhere to be of service abroad, there was plenty to do here in the U.S. Plan C came with a big BUT. Donors to non-profits, understandably, want their money to go towards the goals of the organization. Food banks provide food. Homeless shelters provide shelter. What donors don’t understand is that there are employees who make it all happen. Volunteers, though heavily depended on, are notoriously unreliable. Unlike volunteers, employees expect to get paid a living wage for their hard work. In blunt terms, non-profits don’t pay shit. This results in a constant turnover of staff. The constant turnout results in discontinuity and instability. For more on this, check out A New Way to Judge Nonprofits: Dan Pallotta at TED 2012.  https://blog.ted.com/a-new-way-to-judge-nonprofits-dan-pallotta-at-ted2013/ I was not willing to work for next to nothing. I had already done that for four years. My options for finding a job with a life purpose dwindled. 

I shifted my thinking. A real job could support whatever my life purpose turned out to be. After shuffling through jobs, I nailed down an administrative assistant position with a private school. It wasn’t a life changing assignment, but it did pay the bills. With job hunting out of the way, the deeper, more complicated question remained. What is my life’s purpose? Writing? Did it benefit anyone except me? I don’t write self-help and unless my work is published, who would ever read it? There had to be something more.

I can’t say when or how the idea for a salon came to me. It was one of those things that has tickled the back of my brain for years. The timing finally felt right. I started by posting the Gertrude Stein Lives Again Salon on Meetup. I attended other groups for writers, artists, and creative types to talk up the salon. Classes and workshops have also been recruiting sources. People have come and gone, but the salon has maintained a core group of about twelve people. Good thing, since that’s all my little apartment can accommodate.

We eat, drink, and make merry. No firm agenda. No fees. Just a willingness to support one another. We talk about our latest projects. Exchange information. Attend each other’s events. And collaborate. It has been a safe place for members to get critiques of their work – only if they ask. I often invite art loving friends to attend our soirees and feature one of the member artists. It gives the members an opportunity to explain their process and voice their inspiration. Several have made sells as a result. Always a great boost of encouragement for up-and-coming artists.

Not to forget the writers, this Halloween I sponsored a flash fiction writing contest. Even the non-writers participated and came up with some great stuff.

I won’t deny that putting the salons together; sending out invitations, planning the food and drinks, clean up before and after, is a lot of work. But the payoff is priceless. Everyone leaves ready to get to work, armed with new information, new friends, and loads of reassurance. So, what’s in it for me. Their ambitions fuel my own. It motivates me to work harder, to have something to report at the next meeting. And a part of me feels like maybe I have a tiny bit to play in their success.