I am Starting a Non-Profit Choral Organization - Part 3: The Art of Verdigris

My name is Sam and I just dropped $600 to follow my dreams of starting a non-profit choral organization. I keep a Burger King job application on my piano to both remind me that I don't have to put myself through the stress and to motivate me to work harder. I teach high school students and sing as a tenor in a high-intensity church choir twice a week. I am an artist. I believe in pushing the boundaries of my art. It just so happens that the medium is choral music.

The single worst part about starting a non-profit is coming up with the name. I had to limit all of my thoughts, dreams, and aspirations into sentences. Then I had to limit sentences into adjectives. I wanted people to feel inspiration, creativity, empowerment, interest, diversity, intellect, and elegance when they read the name of my organization.

It was agonizing. I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking of names, racking my brain for something that would make sense. People I talked to always said "You'll know when you find it." It was like they all trusted in the whole "The wand chooses you rather than you choose it" mentality. I had no patience for that. Here are some of the names I scribbled down at first.

Aequalis - Latin for "to make equal." Pretty cool
Meraki Ensemble - a word that modern Greeks often use to describe doing something with soul, creativity, or love.
Scorpio Ensemble - sounds cool but makes no sense within the context..
Arcadian Rhythm - Arcadian means "idyllically innocent." Also sounds almost the same as Circadian Rhythm
Elysium Ensemble - Heavenly sounds. Somewhat pretentious?

It all sounded so superficial. So stupid. So I kept agonizing over it.

Apodyopsis - The act of undressing someone with your eyes. Cool word but sounded like borderline porn.
Circadian Rhythm - Your body clock. Meh.
Elysian Fields - Still pretentious.

It took weeks to think of these, let alone to decide whether they were good or bad. I loved the name Aequalis, but it was so similar to what every other choral non-profit did. I felt so frustrated one day that I decided to take a walk. On that walk, I found this:

I don't know if the metal was actually copper but it looked like a copper with patina on it, much like the statue of liberty. I loved the contrast of brown with a blueish-green color. You could totally make art with that! So I did an experiment: I bought a sheet of copper, put salt and vinegar on it, and then waited.

and waited....

And then finally:

It was beautiful! The patina created a perspecitve and beauty to the copper that you could not find in its purest form. Thats how I wanted people to leave our performances: with a new perspective and sense of beauty. So I started looking for words on the internet:

Copper Rust
Copper Patina
Copper VERDIGRIS

Verdigris....... VERdigris.....VerdiGRIS...... Thats it. Thats the word. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE NAME OF MY ORGANIZATION. VERDIGRIS!!!!

A big thank you to the Steemit community for continuing to encourage me to write about my journey. Some people have suggested that I start a podcast in addition to writing. I'm looking forward to exploring that option more. I hope that these writings serve as encouragement and inspiration for those who desire to follow their dreams of being an entrepreneur. It isn't easy, but it is worth it. I am still terrified of failure, but if I didn't try this, I would be on my deathbed wondering whether I would be successful if I had done it.