Energized Friends

Birds of a feather is a trite way to say it, but I am truly blessed to have some amazingly creative, community-minded, high energy friends. Better yet, they are willing to share their skills, connections, time and knowledge with me, inspiring me to greater heights.

Recently, I had dinner with a friend who has a corporate job, serves on the boards of numerous community organizations and hosts a weekly tv show http://analehshow.com/ in her spare time – in Spanish. She had just come from a meeting for an event she runs that collects toys for kids. I had come from a meeting about my next art show (stay tuned) with a friend who runs three businesses, while finding volunteer time to host multiple nonprofit benefit events.

Meanwhile, my friends at Greater Middletown Chorale http://gmchorale.org/ are mostly volunteers with other jobs. I consulted to help them sell out Letter From Italy – and the film about that premier was just nominated for an Emmy! Another friend has a job that requires incessant travel, but still finds time to run a website and e-newsletter, LatinMusicTonight, http://latinmusictonight.com/ serving the tri-state region. And then there are my buddies at the Betty Knox Foundation http://www.knoxfoundation.org/, a smart, funny, diverse and dedicated group of volunteers. We meet monthly to award small grants that make a big difference to community-based nonprofits.

I am lucky to be friends with many people who juggle significant business responsibilities with selfless community service and immense creativity. Knowing such talented, committed folks encourages me to create, contribute and soar – for which I am extremely thankful. Flatteringly enough, many of them collect my art work, too. Here's an example of a painting owned by one of these collectors.