Got a pin?

Remember the segments on Sesame Street about consequences? There was a little girl named Linda who wondered “What would happen if I popped this balloon?” She would then imagine a series of events that might happen and, inevitably, choose a different, safer course of action. She thought ahead, before acting, about the consequences. Little Linda left a huge impression on me.

What would happen if I popped this balloon?

Some phantom voice whispers that question in my ear to this day. At random intervals that seem disconnected to anything in my current circumstances I hear that voice chanting “what would happen if I popped this balloon?” I suppose I hear it as much as anyone who’s ever doubted themselves, or allowed fear to retard their growth or silence their expression…My “popping balloons” don’t seem so much to be choices I should avoid, as fear of making the wrong choices, or the brave ones. That time-old, nagging fear of failure. What would happen if I put it all out there and I fall, I loose, I’m rejected, I can’t connect with my audience, other artists, love…what if?

But what if I succeed? What if I stand tall, if my voice resonates with someone else? What if I can connect with other artists, with love, with life…What if I can be truly, fully and completely…happy? Isn’t it time I welcome the release of all that’s pent-up in those rubber surrounds? Isn’t it past time I relish the sweet release of the exploding pops? Wouldn’t it be grand to spend the next however many years I have left devoting my life to popping those damned balloons?