Applicant #41: Suzanne Stauss

Suzanne Stauss is a mom from Seattle.

My video application:

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A bit about me:

I'm Suzanne Stauss. I've been bouncing around the world most of my life, but 5 and a half years ago we landed in Seattle and decided that this vibrant city with a small-town feel is where we'd hang our hats. We fell in love with this city, with the nature surrounding it, with the sense of community, even with the weather... and we may never leave.

My background is in psychology and communications but now I'm a full time monkey wrangler: Jane is 7, Joe is 5. Our life is full and magical and completely surreal and chaotic. A majority of my work is still in psychology and communications, I suppose. I just get paid a lot less for it. One of the biggest lessons I've learned so far as a mom is that you have to approach life creatively to remain sane. To paraphrase Walt Whitman, we live to "suck the marrow out of life". If I teach my monkeys nothing else, I want to teach them that real life comes from things you can't buy, but from things you can share.

I've been observing life and writing about it since I could hold a pencil. I'd love to share these observations with you. The everyday things that surround us are so rich, so poignant, and often hilarious, if you're looking through your creative goggles. It's the common experience, the "oh me too!" and the "aha!" that makes us neighbors. I love my neighbors.

I also love Verity Credit Union, right down to their little pomegranate lip balms. In a time where it seems finances are often uncertain both on a personal and national level, it is an honest comfort to walk into my branch and be recognized as a person and served with a smile.

Whomever gets chosen as Verity Mom (please let it be me, please let it be me!) will be contributing to one of the things I love best about Verity - working to foster community and connect people. That's a cause I can get behind because it's my life's work as well.

My blog post:

Closing Night Interview with a Performance Artist

It is the closing night of the performance art piece that has been showing in my front yard the last few weeks. It's a poignant piece called "Pots of Dead Things: An Exploration of the Existential Conflict of Squirrels vs. Zucchini and Why Dahlias Do Not Make Good Toys". I caught up with some of the players just as they were wrapping up.

Me: So, last performance, huh? How are you feeling about that?

Zucchini Plant: "Well, there's always a little sadness when things change, but I think we had a brilliant showing and accomplished some of the things we set out to do."

Me: Can you articulate some of those things for our readers?

ZP: "There were a lot of people who, when we first started this project in June, were doubtful of the outcome. I think we proved that you can, indeed, grow zucchini in pots. We also got to work with some great kids this year who really poured their hearts into watching this piece unfold. From the very beginning when we were just a seed of an idea, they were there to nurture us along, to help us see this thing through. I like to think we helped them learn some things along the way."

Me: What sort of things?

ZP: "Patience, primarily. And, you know, that exhilaration of watching something spring to life and transform." [chuckles quietly] "Also that they don't like to eat zucchini very much."

Me: Was this problematic for the performance?

ZP: "Nah, it's all good. We fed some hungry squirrels. Cycle of life, man, cycle of life. There are so many things that can get you down in today's world. It's great to have been a part of something that encourages discovery. It's good to know that plants just keep growing, the seasons keep turning. Ahem." [clears throat and takes a moment]

Me: Any words of advice to your successors?

ZP: "Sure. They're young and pretty now, but they have a hard winter ahead of them. They're working with some great people, though, and I hear they're hardy, so they should be OK."

Dahlia's neck was broken and was unavailable for comment. Both she and Zucchini Plant will be retiring to Compost Bin later today. We're excited to announce that a brand new performance Mum's The Word will be debuting this fall, weather permitting.

Suzanne