About 150 people came out to see recycled art, listen to music, eat some vegetarian food, and learn some breathing techniques, all as a fundraiser for our YES! high school programs, teaching breathing techniques and life-skills to inner-city kids.
The atmosphere was really nice. It felt like the attendees, the vast majority of whom had never met any of us or one another, were very comfortable with one another. You could just walk up to strangers and start talking about important things without much effort. So for me, whether or not this event leads to other measures of success, the atmosphere of belongingness we created, exemplified the purpose of the work we do.
So risk...
An event like this has lots of risk. What if you lose money? What if the event sucks, and the friends or artists or food vendors you invited think you wasted their time and money?
I have seen with lots of events like this that its a lot easier to stand on the sidelines where its safe, and to even be critical while you're there. It takes courage to throw yourself into an uncertain situation, and with hard work and a little faith, to plow ahead and hope for the best.
None of us know how to succeed until we try something, and its this willingness to fail, to risk something important, that separates those who create in life, and those who just watch. So for those that took a risk, I applaud you. You know the feeling of success, something those who just stand by in a safe place can never know.
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