Tears fall like Aquis

23 August 2019 - I was talking to a friend about all the trials and missteps I've mentioned in this blog—about how it looked like I'd faced one failure after another and that for nearly a decade I couldn't figure out why that was the case. As we chatted, I became verklempt as I mentioned the myriad projects I'd started that appeared at the time to be random one-offs, but that I now realize are part and parcel of all Omni is meant to be about. On Patreon, the Academy's tagline is "cultivating community by creating a whole new world," and that is one hundred percent what all of this 'stuff' has been about.

La Vie Sirene magazine paved the way for Writing on a Whim, the upcoming Cynosurae newspaper, and Omni's anthologies, the 3rd of which publishes next month with Besties & Beasties.

The retail spot I did not open with my cohort necessitated the creation of Whimsicalidocious, my dream of starting an arts nonprofit coming true.

Fantasy Fitness is now part of the Omni curriculum and I've already taught a few classes—woohoo! The Wellemental elements-based retreat I planned long before knowing about the academy and its element structure will be held next year.

Siren School was revealed to be the academy's all-female affiliate, and its long-forgotten newscasts were the dress rehearsal for Omni's Station AOAS newscasts starting in Spring, in keeping with academy activity written about in Pete's Omni Tale.

Shared Treasure Hunt will finally leave port from Omni in July 2020, the academy having deep connections with all things piratical.

The original language Naturim is taught at the academy and features in the first OmniQuest escapish-room game that launches 1 February 2020.

Pete's story will at last be published ... more like 'churned out' ... on an oh so regular basis, with chapters released every few days on Patreon, and novellas (about a dozen chapters in length) released every 6 weeks for the next 6-7 years.

The few 'fiddleheads' who have supported this project have seen their original characters come to life in Pete's story.

Even Platen, the stepchild element at the academy, has come into its own with the running of Dim Q's Tea Travellers Societea.

All the intense work and seemingly disparate projects are all unexpectedly converging, and where they all meet is at Omni. I could not be more delighted.

Fantasy and Fitness finally meet, then part ways

About 4 years after the original idea of combining fantasy with fitness, Siren School announced its program aptly called Fantasy Fitness. The idea was participants could participate in hour-long fantasy-themed dance classes that would enable them to 'take a vacation from the ordinary' if only for an hour. Dance genres included Genie Belly Bliss, Bollywood Blast, Island Drums, Gypsy Caravan, and more, all with themed costume bits to help get into character. The program launch took place when I was really dealing with some of the ickiest parts of my health situation.

Unsurprisingly, nothing came of it, which turned out to be a blessing because I really couldn't do much but sit in bed and come up with hairbrained schemes. Turns out, the project was merely waiting for the right time. I just didn't know it yet.

Fantasy meets fitness, with joy ... almost

14 August 2010 - I was in a yoga class when I first got the idea of combining fitness with an immersive fantasy experience. It was at a time when women were sporting collagen-injected "duck lips" and their faces were devoid of expression due to an excess of Botox. So many women seemed to think they're value was based on their physical appearance, and that they were worth less as they aged.

It broke my heart and I wanted to do something about it. Thus was born Joie de Vivre lifestyle, a business that despite good intentions was dead on arrival.

It had some solid bones, but just did not feel right. Subsequently, my target audience changed, life took over, and I bailed on the project as an 'entrepreneurial failure,' thinking I'd never do anything with what I worked so hard to create.