Day 201: Major Concert Announcement

There's a woo-woo personal growth theory that if you want to invite new opportunities into your life, clear out your closets. The idea is that if your life (and closet and garage) is so packed with old stuff, you don't HAVE ROOM for the new and exciting.

For the past several years, I've been working with the belief that a full bookshelf made me look smarter or more well-read. Maybe I'm smart, maybe I'm not, but my bookshelf was home to so many old ideas (literally) that it was time to trim the fat.

For example, my ex-husband gave me a lovely hardcover edition of Plato's Republic...IN TWELFTH GRADE. I still have it. WTF. Seriously.

It was high time for a purge. So, any book that wasn't fun or exciting or applicable to where my life is TODAY, I tossed. About halfway through, I felt a weight lifting. I'm not talking a metaphorical weight. I LITERALLY felt lighter. (Get it...literally? Ha!)

By the end of it, my shelf had half the books it did and a bunch of delicious wide-open spaces – magnets for new and exciting ideas.

Well. I didn't have to wait long.

Today, Paris. Tomorrow...ZAMBIA. As of this afternoon, you people need to ready yourself for the Melanie Jones World Freaking Tour. I'M GOING TO AFRICA. Then India. Then Haiti.

What the freaking hell, you ask?

Vancouver-based photographer Cate Cameron and I are documenting the impact of clean water on third world people on behalf of CAWST (Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology...least sexy NGO name ever). The resulting photo documentary and stories will be exhibited in several galleries across Canada. (And I really want to write a book.)

I met with Alison from CAWST about the project before I left for Paris, but have been biting my nails ever since.

Well, I got word today that I'm the chosen writer and it's GAME FREAKING ON, YO. We're heading to Zambia in the next couple of months. Boom. Just like that.

Can somebody please slap me? Seriously. I think I stopped breathing.