Playing the fool

Prayer hands in paper clay.

I probably consume way too much stuff about creativity. Ted Talks, pods, medium articles. Send. Me. Everything. You. Got. But it's rare that something really moves me. That is, until this week.

I absolutely loved Ethan Hawke's Ted Talk, Give Yourself Permission to be Creative. 

First off, did anyone know Ethan Hawke was so wise? Anyone?

Well damn, Ethan. You got me.

In this brief, 8-minute riff he says a lot. Here's the piece that connected with me most:

“Most of us really want to offer the world something of quality, something that the world will consider ‘good’ or ‘important,’ and that’s really the enemy, because it’s not up to us whether what we do is any good, and if history’s taught us anything, the world is an extremely unreliable critic.”

I see this every day in my work as a coach. How many of us worry that what we're making won't be any good? Or it won't be considered important? What would happen if that didn't matter at all? If we made things because we wanted to. Because making things helps us understand ourselves better. 

To me, that's what EH means when he talks about playing the fool. There are so many things a work can be:

Funny.
Honest.
Strange.
Sincere.

'Good' and 'important' are terribly unhelpful words. Plus, were not the ones who get to decide what's important anyway. Significance is in the eyes of the viewer. And that viewer changes over time. Many of the artists I love weren't even recognized during their lifetimes. Some were dismissed completely for being too radical or too fringe (Hilma af Klint is a good example of this). I'm so grateful they kept making their work anyway. They could have never anticipated its impact.

So this week, let's all do Ethan a favor: put on your favorite party hat, make some wild shit, and feel completely and utterly foolish. It's the only way forward.

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