The whole experience

The picture is of a pair of beaded flowers, a gift from a fellow artist friend.
I attended, last night, a meeting of regional artists of a variety of venues. We are in essence a Christian group, but that's a broad range and we aren't exclusive. We have a charter that values, to a protective extreme, individual creativity. This is a good thing.
I took a piece of pottery and some poetry for the 'show and tell' feature of the meeting. Some of it was silly some was suedo serious. Others brought photography, and paintings.
In our group we run the gammut of age and development of ideology, skill and creative thought. I must admit, kicking and screaming inside, that I'm a pretty tight individual. I get a kick out of those 'out there' people even if I don't like to work with them toward an end. I see 'out there' as a particular stage of creative development.
Last nights meeting was held at the home of one of our members. The moderator told us to meet at his studio so we could find our way, seeing as how it was close. I was standing with another group member in the cold. As we waited for him to arrive, three people walked toward us. Being the kind of person I am, I said "You must be the three." A tall, youngish guy replied, "And you must be the two." True to my own creative silliness, I quipped. "Well I may look like two, but that's just the holidays effect and I'm working on it." I had no idea we were waiting for another couple and assumed he was just coming back at me. I'm glad I didn't know, for my quip caught his attention and he began to bounce off it. The other two tried to be philosophical.
So this young man caught my interest. He was genuine, confident, and creative. He responded to the philosophy that our leader put forward during the 'devotional/inspirational' segment with a straightforwardness that truly added to the concept. He had the confidence to bring an incomplete work and discuss his progress and intentions. I like that. The work was exciting and it's incomplete state inspired all kinds of input from this group of creative minds. He didn't seem to mind. It was obvious he had a plan, but was open to new thought and technique. He may use some or none of what he gleaned, but he gleaned none the less.
When we started off at the end of the meeting, I thanked him for allowing me to jest with him. By that time I'd gathered we were supposed to have had two others join us, but I didn't say so. He rolled his window down and said "Thank you!"
So now I've had the whole eureka! and I'm saying to myself "Why didn't you know?" Yes, I had heard mention of the group of art students that had discovered my friend our moderator. I knew of a young northern artist that was looking for some honest art and quality artistic expression in this area, searching for that last peice of himself. I was part of the loop, so to speak. Yet I was so full of myself that I didn't see.
But then I ask myself, had I known he was 'that person' would I have been different? Would I have been more cautious, less real? Frankly, I'm glad I didn't know. I've decided that I hope I never know again, until I can be as real, as searching, as honest. We're all seeking and becoming. We need not be perfect to influence the life and mind of another, we just need to be true people and relax a little with who we are.
So in my ignorance, last night, I met a friend.