Puzzle of Pieces

The other day, we started this project in school. Its an extremely  cool project, and I highly suggest you check it out. Its called the "Puzzle Art Project". And this guy, he sends out puzzle pieces that are pretty big, to classrooms and he does workshops, and its a world wide thing. His name is Tim Kelly, and my teacher, Maria, got a hold of him, and each kid in our class got a puzzle piece. 

When Maria handed me my piece, words poured all over my brain. So many inspiring things, things that stirred something within me. Pretty soon, I had nothing on my puzzle piece, and I looked around at my classmates pieces. 

I go to an artistically inclined school. 

I couldn't believe the art that was on these little white puzzle pieces! I wish I had pictures to show you. I was honestly in awe. I looked down at my blank piece, and it kinda just hit me. 

I am no artist. I have nothing to share with the world. 

My handwriting sucks, I can't draw anything except stick trees. No brilliant colors. Heck, the idea of the commitment of putting paint on this thing was horrifying! I was supposed to inspire the world with this, no? 

Well actually, no. My individual piece was going to a bigger puzzle, a puzzle that covered tons of walls in New York City. THAT was going to inspire the world. I did a lot of thinking on my previous statement. I knew it wasn't true that I had nothing to offer. I mean. I am full of spunk and passion and I'm constantly being enlightened. So what the heck was I thinking? I had nothing to offer? 

To tell you the truth, my puzzle piece is kinda lame. I painted the whole piece black, and only used electric blue for color. I have "Grow" written in a bottom cover. A stick tree is spread across the rest of the puzzle piece. My handwriting is nothing to be in awe of, when its hung, you cant even read it. There is nothing cool about it, and there is nothing so profound about it that it will inspire a million hearts and revolutionize the world.  

Nah. It looks like 5th grade me would have created. I don't know why I was putting so much pressure on this. Why am I so eager to impress, to wow, to inspire people? Why did I think I needed this puzzle piece to do that? As I thought about it more and more, it kinda came to me.
The Puzzle Art Project does not exist so that one person individually can change the world. It exists so that we, as a country. As a world, one united body, can stand together on a wall, shining. America is known as a melting pot. So much culture, so many different people and customs and passions and everything. Every single thing is different. Two of us might be passionate about words, but we are going to be different. We will never be the same. Yet we can be United. It kinda slowly dawned on me the magnitude of this whole thing. 

One person dropped a stone in the well of the Earth, and the ripple he made was insane. THOUSANDS of pieces have been added to the walls. Kids, from every age, from one to one hundred. Represented. Smiles, laughs. Can you imagine the sparks this guy got going in the minds of thousands of people, like mine? Whether it was the art, or the concept, or maybe going to a workshop and seeing what was happening. Can you just imagine? 

The thought processes, the lavish expressions of art. Even the ones left blank. Every single one is a representation of an individual person, expressing him/herself to the best he/she can. ONE PERSON. Brought so many people together. Out of every single walk of life. There is a piece, on that wall, to represent it. Because just like we are each our own puzzle, we are also a piece of something bigger. And we all fit together. 

Is that not profound enough to make you think? To inspire you? It certainly left me staring out the window, pondering the true power of one little movement. 







You could be the one to inspire. You, one little person, seemingly lost in this huge earth, you can make a huge difference. Maybe the first step is making your own puzzle piece. Find out how at http://www.artisgoodforyou.com/ 

Send me pictures of your pieces! You do have something to offer. So, do not be afraid. Go forth and inspire!