Harold is a little boy and one night, he decides to go for a walk in the moonlight and he realizes that “there wasn’t any moon, and Harold needed a moon for a walk in the moonlight. And he needed something to walk on. He made a long straight path so he wouldn’t get lost. And he set off on his walk, taking his big purple crayon with him.”
Now obviously, I’m not going to tell the entire book here but suffice it to say that he went for a walk and ended up on a whale of an adventure. Every time Harold needed to “add” to his adventure, he simply used his “big purple crayon” to create whatever it was that he needed. After a long and exhausting journey Harold decides he wants to go home and eventually, figures out that home is where his bed is with a view of the moon out his window. He draws it, crawls into bed and “the purple crayon dropped on the floor. And Harold dropped off to sleep.”
Why is this so important and why do I think it’s the best metaphor ever written? I’ll tell you and feel free to disagree with me if you’d like. Harold wants to do something so he creates it. He creates his adventure. He creates his world and every time he encounters some sort of problem, he creates a solution. When he was hungry, he drew an apple tree. When he wanted a picnic, he created pies. Too much pie? A hungry moose and porcupine were available to help eat it. Harold did what we all want to do but are too afraid to try. He set off on an adventure, of his own choosing, not really thinking about what came next and where he would end up. These issues were big and small but Harold, and his trusty purple crayon, drew himself right out of them whether by “drawing” a boat, a balloon or at the end, his own bed. He wasn’t scared of what he might find along the way trusting that he could figure out some way to move on, move past the encumbrance.
We don’t do that anymore. Adults don’t do that. We’re scared. We don’t take risks. Kids dream and they dream big. None of the “practicalities” of life interfere with their dreams. Harold wanted an adventure and there weren’t any limits placed upon it. Sure, things were different in 1955 from they are now. When I was a kid we took off in the morning on our bikes and showed up at sundown. We had bike trails and forts in the woods. We ran wild and free. It was a different time when the dangers of the “real” world were few and far between. Fear wasn’t a part of our basic vocabulary. Even after my brother was hit by a car and almost killed, we didn’t view the world with cynicism and dismay.
My kids didn’t grow up this way. There was “stranger danger,” traffic, and many other real issues to keep them from being far-ranging in their play. I didn’t let them touch base only once a day. But still, there’s the dream that you can go off and have your adventure. That life doesn’t have to be so regulated and restricted. That you too can find your own “purple crayon” and follow your dreams. One of the goals I have always had for my kids is to let them follow their dreams and to be what they want, go where they desire. Do I expect them to buckle down and achieve in school? Of course I do but that doesn’t negate my teaching them to take risks. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” is one of my favorite things to say. You can play it safe and risk nothing. You don’t “lose” but you also don’t “win.”
So, let’s all take our cue from Harold, find our own purple crayons and go draw out the life we want, not just the one that’s in front of us!
