What Yellow isn’t

Over the holidays I was reflecting about the final groups of the last cohort. Listening to people speak about their experience was delightful, moving and humbling. Again.

It continues to amaze me how rewarding it can be for people to meet in this way. And yet there is so little to it. Two hours every two weeks for a few months.

On Zoom.

And then they say things like:
“Yellow is truly magical… I feel like it has dropped a huge pebble into the pond of my life with a bunch of unexpected ripples, some I've explored already, some I know I will come back to and some I know will have a huge impact on my life in ways that I can't even comprehend right now.”
 
Alex and I play a conscious role in creating and curating the space. We pay attention to what we do and to how we do it.

Nonetheless, there is no escaping the fact that, it is what’s not there, that makes it. With no goals or learning objectives, no programme, no need to perform and no particular expectation people find themselves in a very different mode - which is often delightful, sometimes difficult, but one way or another it is rare and valuable. 

And that has been my overwhelming reflection at the end of the last cohort. That the things people say about Yellow, speak volumes about the lack of such spaces in their lives. When someone says Yellow is “a space where people struggling with life, as we all do, just come and show up” it shows what is missing in the world. 

Which is a little bit sad. Surely it shouldn't be so hard?. But it does remind me that however modest what we are doing may be, it meets a need that isn't easily satisfied. And that makes it worth it.