We need one another. This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a six year old’s birthday party with my eldest son. It is so refreshing to watch children who don’t know one another at play together. There is so little posturing, no need to size one another up, no hesitation or reservation and a mutual concern to have fun together.
Contrasting this with a typical meeting of adults who don’t know one another – especially when no alcohol is involved – and the scene is much more complex. Years of life experience, battle scars and mental and emotional ruts are overlayed immediately on what could have been a new beginning. The dance to find complementation is more elaborate, more time-consuming and more circuitous than when children get together.
There are few things more beautiful to me in the course of human events than when a group of people get together to create something new and fresh. Each one brings talents, a perspective, a unique combination of personality and character to the mix. Musical performances offer a glimpse of what is possible when people get together and are on the “same page,” unified in a single purpose.
Check out this interesting beatbox performance on TED from a group called Naturally 7.
A mountain of “baggage” can stand between you and a good time if you let it. Judgments about others, prejudices, self-concern, fear of not being accepted, fear of rejection and the list could go on, all are unnecessary, unhelpful and as easy to give up as smoking. I say this because these tendencies are as addictive, if not worse, than nicotine.
There is only one way to move beyond these limitations. You must care more about being creative than you do about what can go wrong or how inadequate you feel or conversely, how “below you” something might appear. A dash of decent boldness can go a long way when it comes to overcoming limitations. Yes there is risk involved, but what is life without risk?
Gregory Hake 
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I saw this group open for Michael Buble. They were amazing, definitely worth checking out further.
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It is so unfortunate that we often tend to get in our own way, when it comes right down to it. I love what you said above, ” You must care more about being creative than you do about what can go wrong or how inadequate you feel or conversely, how “below you” something might appear.” This is something that I will challenge myself with regarding my personal interactions or lack there of. There is so much potential waiting to be expressed through individuals coming together for a right purpose, a symphony waiting to happen. I believe this world can’t function as it should until we truely begin to understand as adults what comes so naturally as children. These are risks worth taking! Thanks
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Risks worth taking, indeed! Thanks…
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What a great reminder to start the week.
Those of us in the business of communication see the critical role that ‘getting over ourselves’ has in being truly effective and making a difference to others.
Decent boldness is key, but it takes self confidence to pull it off in previously awkward situations.
That confidence comes from learning from your mistakes and finding ways to consistently add value to others.
Onward and upward!
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Adding value does seem to be key to forward movement, doesn’t it? One of my greatest delights is to see those around me gaining confidence and strength because of their willingness to learn and their passion to consistently take the high road. What can one person do? A ton!
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Thoreau said “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
I think adults forget how to have fun. Adults learn to make fun of others, put people in their place, keep their head down and a host of other behaviors that limit our own creativity and our friends. I love your thought that we need one another. But for what? I don’t even think the key is having our song heard as much as it is singing ours and being inspired by others to sing things we never knew we were capable of.
Thanks for the lift.
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My pleasure. Quiet desperation is the result of a failure to embrace decent boldness in your living. While a small step for one might be a giant leap for another, the importance is that we not compare ourselves but instead seek the ways in which we can actively and vibrantly complement one another. It wasn’t too long ago that “one small step for man” symbolized an incredible victory over previous limitations. It would be wonderful to experience more triumph in the day-to-day, don’t you think?
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When we reach the age of 13 our motto for the rest of our lives should be “get over yourself”. Great Monday music.
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