So in medieval philosphy The Wheel of Fortune, or Rota Fortunae, is a concept referring to the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna, who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel - some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. Fortune appears on all paintings as a woman, sometimes blindfolded, "puppeteering" a wheel. Often she looks something like this;
Now this is not to be confused with the Pat Sajak show we all know and love (particularly since my wife Amy was once a major winner on the show);
No, we're referring to the entire idea of fate, of course with the addition of the entire blindfold issue, we might be tempted to confuse her with "Lady Justice";
First of all, the downside of the turning wheel. I know I've mentioned numerous times about my cycling accident in July (I Made God Laugh Today) and how I think it has effected me on a karmic, spiritual level. However, this past week I discovered another physical effect that I previously not known about. Apparently, at some point during the accident I also hit very hard on my right hip. For a long time I had a large scrap and a bruise in the area right below my right hip bone. A bit of the bruise is still there.
Well, last weekend I did some shoveling and cleaning up around the house to get a little dug out from the event that was Snowmageddon! Well I guess I must have twisted wrong because I woke up Monday morning in a lot of pain. Now, you have to understand as a dancer I do have a pretty high pain threshold and I can take a lot of punishment. As a matter of fact, my back has been sore and/or hurting pretty consistently for the last two months or so. However, Monday's pain was a new level so I called my friend Dr. Scott Torns to see if he could fit me in. He got me in that morning and did a series of tests and came to the conclusion that I probably twisted my L5 vertabrae;
Which probably accounts for why I have had pain in my lower right back for so long. Anyway, he's been working on me now and everything is getting better (without the need for pharmacological help!). The downside of all of this is that I haven't been able to ride my bike this week. I've been leery of getting on the bike and undoing all of his hard work. However, that will hopefully be taken care of as I finish these last adjustments. I'm going to try to get out on the bike this weekend to try my hand as the weather is supposed to finally warm up.
So that is the physical condition of me (and by extension Connor's Army) but there has also been an interesting turn of the wheel in regard to the emotional and financial situation. No, we haven't gotten a new infusion of sponsorship cash in hand (although, again, if ANYONE is reading this that has a connection to any potential sponsors - LET ME KNOW!) but we have had a lot of people come forward this week with offers to do some fundraising on behalf of Connor's Army.
First of all is my friend and colleague Peter Haughwout. He is one of the founders of a collective of artists known as Art Studio 85. Their group has a primary goal of "entertaining our audiences through a myriad of media. In attempts to evoke emotional responses from a growing New York community, it is our studio’s desire to appeal to all of the senses and to eventually reach individuals internationally." They "regularly engage in discussions on topics such as philosophy, current events, religion and metaphysics just to name a few" while "Group critiques and required pilgrimages (visits to exhibition spaces) allow our artists to remain competitive and current in their creative fields." I personally know many of these artists as many of them are collegues of mine at Syosset High School and I have seen their work first hand. Go on their website and check it out - I wish I had a quarter of their talent with a pencil, paintbrush or clay.
Pete and his group are putting together an art exhibition at the Walt Whitman museum for early April and they intend to run it as a benefit for the museum and Connor's Army! We don't know how much it will generate but every little bit will help us towards our gaol. With any luck we may be able to raise another $1,000 through this event! More would be a blessing of immense proportions but we'll start small and that would be enough. Yet, there's more! He is hoping to do a similar show in June with student artists that traditionally has a very large turnout. With any luck, we'll have the funding we need before that event and all of the proceeds from the June show can go directly to Sunrise Day Camp.
Also, one of my former students has a comedy improv troupe at Emerson and she is putting together a benefit show that will be held next Friday night!!!! THANK YOU MEL!!!! As soon as I get more information about that event I will post it here and also on our facebook sites as well! With any luck that will generate a goodly amount as well.
And finally, and this offer really touched my heart, one of my former acting students who is now involved in a lot of the after school clubs has offered to go door to door in Syosset and ask businesses to support Connor's Army. She is also going to approach the student government about sponsoring us as well! She floored me when she made this offer and I can only hope that more of our "Army" can help us with smaller fundraisers such as this. Please, any of you who have the opportunity no effort is too small since every dollar raised for the cross country event brings us one wheel length closer to the finish line!
Thank you everyone for believing in us and believing in our mission! Please keep those fundraisers coming and I will keep letting you know how close we are to making this happen and changing the lives of these kids.
Now, keep your fingers crossed that when I go out this weekend I don't mess up Dr. Scott's adjustments!
Stay well and I'll see you on the road!
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