the idea: record a spoken word poem from Don’t Make Art, Just Make Something

 

How do I begin?

 

Nobody tells you that.

They show up to our graduations,

say a proud congratulations,

and for a day it feels like we’ve done everything.

But then the next day comes,

and the next,

and suddenly it’s not exciting but terrifying

as we look out at our lives and realize

the time has come

and we’re not ready.

 

We stand here

on the last piece of the past

looking out at the vast future

ready to jump from the springboard of our education

into the world,

only to realize that we won’t spring that far.

We look down into the chasm that separates where we are

and where we want to be

and there are no guides,

no bridge to get across,

and that’s when we see, as if for the first time,

that our two decades spent crammed at desks have prepared us only to pass tests that don’t even matter once we’re done with them.

The reality that our education and profession are so disconnected,

that the mess we’re in is expected,

knocks us to our knees 

as we fight for footing on the precipice 

of everything.

 

So how can we begin?