An update on my new bicycle wheels:
They arrived a week or so ago. They’re really quite beautiful. I moved them across to the bike, and have done just a little riding on them so far. Besides being beautiful, I LOVE the way they feel and handle.
Jude Kirstein built the wheels for me. I’m sure I was a difficult customer for her, as I really couldn’t give her very good direction on the aesthetics of the wheels, and she really wanted that direction from me. I needed her guidance and “vision” about what the wheels could become aesthetically, and she needed me to approve and be OK with things before she’d build them.
I get that about the position that Jude was in – I really do. She runs a small business, and she couldn’t afford to build a set of wheels that I’d reject. We went around a bit, and I was clearly extremely conservative – feeling comfortable with black. While she suggested some other colors that we could do for the hubs, I was clearly resisting out of my lack of vision. Then, at the last minute, I asked my daughter for advice, and she recommended blue hubs and nips. Jude was going to do just plain black since this was clearly my comfort zone, but Anna pushed me out of that comfort zone just a bit.
I’m really glad we went with blue. The wheels are truly beautiful, and very classy. I’ll update my “review” of the wheels after a few thousand miles, but for now, I love the look of them and the feel of them, and I think Jude did a great job.
But the important stuff is the dynamics of how things came together. Since I lacked the vision to see what might be in the wheels, and Jude was leary of creating something I might not like, I almost ended up with really boring wheels. Thanks to Anna, we punched out of that really boring place to end up with beautiful wheels.
But, is there an even better set of wheels that live somewhere in Jude’s imagination, that could be on my bike right now?
How often do we allow our fear of disappointing someone else keep us from allowing the truly spectacular to emerge from our imagination? Creativity involves risk, and creativity that allows the spectacular to emerge requires truly great courage.
Creativity comes from the soul, courage comes from the heart, and fear comes from the mind. We need to find ways to quiet the mind more often, and allow the heart to clear the path for the soul.
I love the new wheels, with zero reservation. I’ll write more as I spend more time on them. But to young folks like Jude, listen to your soul, and let your heart fight for the truly spectacular that wants to emerge.
