Last weekend I went to the Field + Supply fall show in Kingston. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, that perfect crisp fall day that everyone goes upstate for.
I have done enough pop-ups at this point that the logistics feel second nature. So second nature, apparently, that I completely forgot to book lodging until the very last minute. By then, the only inventory left was at the Super 8. I had stayed there once before and swore never to come back. But it was only a five minute drive from the venue and I had no other options, so I booked it and moved on.
Then, two days before the event, a friend messaged me on my personal Instagram. Let’s call her D for privacy's sake. The account I hardly ever log into, much less check messages on. It was by pure chance that I even saw it. She asked if I was coming to Field + Supply and whether I wanted to stay with her.
It was an instant YES! That is, as long as I could cancel my reservation and get my points back.
I spent the next day going back and forth with Chase, trying to get the booking cancelled. It was a little over 24 hrs before the stay, which complicated things. The rep said they would look into it and call me back. I waited all day, but no call came, so I assumed it was not going to happen, and headed to Kingston.
By the time I finished setting up my booth it was 7pm. I got in the car to drive to the Super 8, but I checked my email one last time, just to be sure.
Your reservation has been CANCELLED.
I panicked. D and I were not close enough for me to have her phone number or her address. I fired off a frantic Instagram message: hey, my lodging just got cancelled, I need to stay with you after all, I hope you see this! Then went on a hunt, messaging anyone who might have her number. There were multiple events happening in Kingston that weekend, and every hotel in town and the surrounding areas was fully booked. The closest available accommodation was in Albany. Eventually I got a hold of her and the crisis was averted.
But here is why I am telling you all of this.
Sunday morning, over breakfast, D shared that she was going through a tough breakup. She said it felt strange because they had only been dating a short time, but she was having a harder time getting over it than her longer relationships. The story sounded familiar. Exactly a year ago, my best friend had gone through a really difficult breakup too, also with someone she had only known a few months. As I told her story, and the unusual circumstances that led to the end, D’s eyes widened. She said: oh my god, the exact same thing happened to me. A brief relationship, an unusual blindsided ending, and a grief that felt completely disproportionate to the timeline.
And then I told her the silver lining.
Last year, when my best friend was in the middle of her grief, I convinced her to come up to Field + Supply for a change of scenery. To be surrounded by creative energy, to walk among makers, to let the fall air do its work. I think it helped. After she healed from that heartbreak, she met someone extraordinary. They are meeting families, making plans.
D told me over breakfast that visiting me at my booth had shifted something in her too. Aside from the breakup, she had been feeling burnt out from work and was craving more creativity in her life. Walking around Field + Supply, watching a whole community of people who had chosen to put themselves and their vision out there, stirred something in her. She said it made her remember a version of herself she had been neglecting.
I had come to Field + Supply that weekend with one thing on my mind: selling bags. Based on past years, it has become one of my most reliable markets. I showed up with loads of calculations in my head and inventory in my car.
But staying with D reminded me of something I had let slip into the background. That running a business loses its oomph, as my five year old would say, without the connections you make along the way. You can't put a value on that. That creativity is contagious, and it can heal not just you, but the people around you. In the world of AI we live in today, an in person event has the power to do what no algorithm can.
A chance DM. A cancelled reservation. A frantic Instagram message. Two people at a breakfast having exactly the conversation they both needed.
I am two days late on this one. But some stories need a little more time to simmer to see what they were really about.
With love,
Maria
D's home was absolutely charming. Definitely beats a Super 8.