Sometimes Courage is Shaped Like Teddy Bears.

It has been a week of transformation at the doll shop as we plan for our Teddy Bear Expert, who is now safely in Colorado. The Teddy Bear Den is pure magic, and I want to show you a little of the behind-the-scenes of it coming together. Our set is ready to film this coming Monday for the January 2021 Virtual Doll Convention. I cleared the floor to get ready for the magic just yesterday. My dear friend Eron Johnson helped me with my vision and showed up with his crew and the pieces yesterday afternoon. The larger pieces were built out front on the lawn and then brought inside.

Eron owns Eron Johnson Antiques, which is a couple of miles from the doll shop. He staged our Teddy Bear Den with fabulous antiques from his shop. You can see the history of all of the antiques that he curated in this video on YouTube - a “Home Tour of the Teddy Bear Den.”

Erik and Stanley worked on the entrance to the Den for over a week, and I couldn't be happier with how it looks. It's amazingly REAL, and to think they started with chicken wire and some crumpled paper. One of my favorite parts is the “Bear Den” sign that they made with sticks from the doll shop yard and doll packing foam pieces. They discuss their project in this video. Stanley has been a creative and invaluable member of our doll shop team for over 40 years, and he said that yesterday was one of the best days in the doll shop that he’s ever had.

Everywhere I turned, there was dirt on the floor from the old and weathered wood, so I spent the day scurrying around with the vacuum and dust mop to pick up all of the dirt. I know I did not get it all, but hey, bears live here, so we can't expect it to be squeaky clean all the time. In the afternoon, I took a moment just to sit in the den. I knew it was going to come together, but I wasn't sure exactly how. I had trust in the universe and in my creative friends, whom I let do anything they wanted with this to pull it together. I have always wanted a cabin in the Colorado mountains. Now I have one, and it will be difficult to take this down as we prepare for the Christmas Pageant.

I am sitting here now writing this blog in the Bear Den only now, it is filled with my Mom’s bears. Oh, she dearly loved Teddy bears as much as she loved dolls, and I can’t help but think that I am spending my Saturday with her right now. I know, I KNOW, she would love this. In fact, I think she would have done it just like this. This is one of the few things that we would both totally agree on.

As much as my Mom and I were a team, we sometimes had different ideas about doing things, and that’s OK. I know that she understands the steps I am taking and the decisions I am making. Choosing to move forward in my own way using the gifts she gave me and the path she paved has been the most difficult yet, most precious experience of my life, and not a day goes by that I am not grateful for something that I can do that I believe really matters and makes a difference.

There are also days where I make mistakes and it feels overwhelming or like it’s just too much, and on those days, it’s OK if it is. Sometimes things feel like too much because they are too much. The thing I have learned about the harder feelings is that they do not last forever.

Maybe you have those days, too. And if you do, I hope when you feel overwhelmed by who you are not, that you take a moment to remember who you are. I hope you are able to see that beyond all the things that you were told that you couldn’t be, and during your most uncertain, shadowy seasons, you are able to wake up every day, and carry on with strength and beauty.

Just how I built a cabin in the middle of my doll shop, I hope you do the things that ignite the fire that is inside of you. I hope you continue to do the things that speak to you, no matter how unpopular or seemingly ordinary or “against the grain” they may be.

I hope little pieces of my story point you to the beautiful reality that even in the darkest times, there is always light peeking through. There is always more. You are no less than anyone because of what you are going through, and you are worthy of being heard.

When I look over at my Mom’s best loved teddy, and remember what it took for him to be here with us, I see a story worth telling, and I am going to tell it. And, well, I think we can also say, courage is sometimes shaped like Teddy Bears.

The January 2021 ‘California Dreamin’ Virtual Doll Convention is taking place on January 13-17, 2021, and we are thrilled to host John Port as our presenter and Teddy bear Expert. Registration will open immediately following the VDC Christmas Pageant.