Hue Are You?

It’s not a big deal. It’s not a big deal, it’s just, like, a weird little project I wanna try. No biggie. Just, you know… a thing.
This is what I say to myself. When I have a plan. Like I do. Right now.
It’s nothing, really.
It’s just silly, really.
It’s just, oh, whatever, really.
Why do I do this? Diminish, deny, disclaim. I don’t think I’m alone in this inability to take myself seriously. I think everyone is gifted with inspiration, with moments of insight into an action or an idea, which, under scrutiny, becomes scary. Everyone is blessed with creative ideas that, sadly, shrivel under the light of consideration.
The ideas that we admire… the songs we love, the movies we quote, the novels we weep over when they end… they were all someone’s creative idea. Someone brave enough to embrace the muse and make the thing. And not only make the thing, friends, but share the thing with the world, rejecting their own inner voice which I am sure shouts as loudly to them as mine does to me to GO NO FURTHER.
TURN BACK.
THOU SHALT NOT CROSS.
That voice that tells you not to risk the public humiliation that is inevitable should you be brazen enough to give space to your idea… what if that voice is actually a good guy, just trying to keep you safe?
Safe from judgment.
Safe from failure.
Safe from yet another wasted effort.
Well, safe is overrated. And what’s at risk, really, in the doing of art, the writing of stories, the sharing of creative projects?
Sure, someone may roll their eyes, some people may not get it, others may laugh at your silliness… but… what if someone likes it?
What if sharing your idea just happens to reach across the divide and touch someone, and they smile, or giggle, or feel something?
I am constantly urging my students to react. To feel, to express, to create.
And here I am, hiding behind my fear that my project is just silly and embarrassing and…
clears throat
straightens spine
I have an idea.
Inspired by the #100dayproject concept of an art project completed every day for 100 days.
Inspired by a story I wrote for a friend twenty years ago.
Inspired by oracle cards, and The Humans of New York, and the 10,000 Doors of January.
Inspired by a hope to inspire my students…
I have an idea, and I’m calling it “Hue Are You?”. I am quite wildly excited, even though I am also scared and working hard to resist the voice telling me it’s just silly, and nothing, and stupid.
I’m launching “Hue Are You?” on Sunday, February 18 as part of the #100dayproject. (It’s the perfect day, filled with Grace. But that’s a story for another day.)
I hope you follow along.