Remembering my first Con, I used to be quite hystherically for the programme, the guests and the merchandise. Everything was so new and exciting and although the excitement is still the same, everything is much calmer for me now so I could focus on what I now love the most about conventions: the people themselves. I'm not necessarily talking about the stars here, but about all those marvellous cosplayers, Tolkien-enthusiasts, people of academic lore-knowledge and new fans. I love how they all come together to celebrate and share their love for Tolkien's world. As someone who didn't really grow up with any LotR-fans around me (I do have that now but I've spent 8 years being the only Tolkien-fan anywhere I went), it is pretty amazing to see how many out there are just as crazy as I am and it's also kind of nice just locking the real-life-people out to just enter Middle-Earth for a weekend and just enjoy the convention itself. There were quite many people I was so looking forward to meeting there in real-life for the first time and all of them were so kind and lovely and fantastic that I am really looking forward to further gatherings. *sigh* why does the con have to be over? RingCon here I come. It is so great to actually see all those exquisite costumes I've been seeing on Tumblr for many months and they were all even more stunning in person than on the screen. Being surrounded by so many creative people inspires me a lot because it's dedication I really admire and I simply love seeing other people showing motivation, dedication and their love for the character they are re-assembling with their costumes.
Let's play find the Elf.
Since I've had my first elaborate and home-made costume, I didn't really expect other people recognizing it that much because I dress up for my own joy in the first place and to express myself through my costume. I will never the many kind people who dropped by to compliment my costume, telling me how much they love the detail and asking for a picture.
Wow, I really didn't expect that at all. I can remember that on the first day - when I had just arrived and was waiting for the Con-staff to hand me my ticket, a lovely girl came over to ask me if I was resembling a member of the house of Feanor because she had recognized the embroided Silmaril on my gear (and I think I died a little that moment because omg I was just so happy somoene actually recognized me as feanorian omg - if you are reading this; thank oyu so much, I think you have no idea how happy and proud you've made me that momen!)- ah it's moments like these that make me happy for a long long time.
Thank you to everyone who showed so much kindness I am absolutely flattered and I don't know what to say.
Out of all the fandoms/groups I have ever been in (including MMORPG societies, sports - anything), I have to say that I like the Tolkien-fandom best, because everyone is just so kind and open and relaxed (well not literally everyone, there are always black sheeps like Eöl but anyways). I am so proud to be a part of this community because never have I met this amount of people whose feelings I could relate to or who would feel with me if a sudden feels-attack strikes hard (they would probably take this german saying of "shared pain is just half the pain" seriously and cry with me over fictional characters, because us Tolkien-nerds are hardcore like that and we love to suffer.)
This entry is probably going to be most organized - can you see the post-con-stres hit in?
And
of course I had one of my dreams/life-goals being fulfilled by being
allowed to host a workshop at the Con, sharing some of my own knowledge
with other fans. Oh
my goodness there were so many people and I felt so truly overwhelmed
by how many wanted to learn Tengwar and have their names translated into
Sindarin.
As someone who has been using this system for over 10 years now, I
cannot really express how great it felt to help those who still
struggled witht the Feanorian Script and mabye even motivate and inspire
others to learn it as well.
Some of my old school-notes
I also felt very encouraged everytime one of those fantastic people took the time to walk over to tell me how much they enjoyed being in the workshops (of which one was held by my best friend about the Angerthas) and this very positiv and kind feedback in the most unlikely moments was so uplifting that I will definitely try to host another workshop/lecture at RingCon - if they want me I'm theirs and your's because I still feel bad for those who couldn't make because of the room's limitation of seats.
My heart is beating so fast right now everything is just so perfect and I will treasure these memories for ever.
Something that has moved me beyond measure: Sir Richard Taylor's speech on being an artist. This man has truly become one of my idols during his last panel because what he said about being an artist/becomming involved and to believe in yourself was definitely one of the most moving and inspiring things I have ever heard in all my life,
Pursuing an art-career has always been one of my dreams and it still is an important wish in my life. It is so good to know that there are still people in this world who would look for originality, passion and dedication instead of a diploma of some well-known art school. And this is not me saying "I can draw so well" because I can't, there is still much to learn because I can only express less than half of the many images in my mind, but he gave me hope, that there is still hope - because if there's something I have learned this year, it is, that sometimes you come closer to reaching your aims and dreams by chance. It has been such a creative and incredibly lucky year for me and there were so many things I could cross off my "what I want to acchieve in life"-list - it is unbelieveable!
I thought a lot about Sir Richard Taylor's words and the more I thought about them, the more greatful I feel becasue for sure I was not the only one getting inspired and touched by his words and if you weren't there to whitness them yourself, I highly recommend looking it up, because in my opinion everyone shoud have heard his speech, it was just too beautiful to not be heard.
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