OCTOBER: Backstories

In Magazine by Genevieve Joëlle VillamizarLeave a Comment

Half a year!

Autumn has a way of slowing it down. All that nostalgia, the leaf-and-light spectacles stopping us in our tracks– and Oh! the smell of juniper and pine smoke rising from our rooftops, filling the senses. I think we all move a bit inward as summer delirium pushes up against the winter clench. Shorter days are more chill; downtime for brewing ideas, reflecting past effort. Evaluatin’ and gestating.

Last winter, I indulged a two-week silent retreat fellowship. A lot of you laughed– me, quiet? I meditated ten hours day; ran under Crestone skies with no snow to hamper me… and I plotted. In that expanded state, cleared of clinging demons, I got a wild hair…in all my free time as a solo mom and grad student, why don’t I launch a Carbondale magazine? No one else is…

It’s been half a year since Bonedale | Amplified released its first series of stories in May looking at, Who are we? Why do we do the things we do?

Marveling further–

How did I get so lucky as to land (by accident) in a dinky-ass mountain town where every 24-hour cycle is a Pinch Me day? Why do I love Carbondale so much? For so many of the reasons we all list– killer peaks, lyrical rivers, sweet trails, a stellar climate. And lovely people.

What makes a community?

I’d’ve never said this in my younger years, but I’ve come to see how much our businesses factor in. Our nonprofits and organizations. In the old days, I might’ve scoffed at words like “economy”, tax base, steering committees, demographic studies. As a sole proprietor for two decades, I’ve come around.

Several of my friends hang their shingle on Main Street. They greet me by name, they know my daughter. It feels like Sesame Street. I care about them and I care about their successes.

I know a lot of creatives, too, who for damn sure could use a little buzz, or a press link on their website–  an introduction in someone else’s words so we know what they’re all about. Or so they can attract their own kind–  maybe it’s a CD review. An artist profile. Event coverage.

Then there are the personal angles to a community, too: How’s it feel at thirty-something to be a new dad, holding the future of grass-fed beef by way of yesteryear– and not in the old ways you think. Or to know the venture you risked put a roof over Laotian heads when the coffee mafia torched their village? What of turning to self-defense, only to fall in love, open a dojo and teach other girls self-defense? Why does a young man ditch the seductive ease of life in the US to study business in France (hint, values and ethics)? These are all people in Carbondale. Your neighbors. And these are their stories, all interconnected through relationships, happenings, the economies of Place.

How can I help amplify my community?

Backstories drive us. They’re the juice of it all– not gossipy juice, but the lube that keeps the machines goin’, the spirit of our motivation, energy, and grit. Word of mouth and knowing each others’ stories are why we invest locally– in each other–  versus online, up- or down-valley.

Knowing our backstories is our power. Keepin’ it Carbondale. Our voices, our stories. About us, for us. All mantras that drive me in publishing B|AM.

Bonedale |Amplified has had a glorious virgin run, six months of talking to new people, sniffin’ out stories and finding reasons to share ’em. We’re ditching themes this month; we’re backlogged in stories pitched to the magazine, or hunted down, all needing to get out:

Who are we? Why do we do the things we do?