This story, from Hasidic tradition, is one of my favorites and I think it really describes what it means to play big.

Everyone must have two pockets, so that he can reach into the one or the other, according to his needs. In his right pocket are to be the words: ‘For my sake was the world created,’ and in his left: ‘I am but dust and ashes.

I just love the visual of the two pockets in that story and the idea of keeping them in balance. We’ve all seen people who are overly heavy on one side or the other and it’s not pretty.

“I am but dust and ashes” represents humility to me.

Humility does not mean playing down your strengths or playing small. To me, humility is all about the way you situate yourself with respect to others. When someone acts with humility, they know that they can’t do it alone. They need others to get the big work done. They also see the pure potential and inherent dignity in everything and everyone else; the world was created for everyone.

“For my sake was the world created” implies that we each have a unique role to play and we must play it. Not only do we have to discover our own role but we need to help others find theirs too.

The world has a you-shaped hole in it. It is missing what you see. It lacks what you know. ~ The Real Life, Tara Sophia Mohr

So, what does it look like to play big?

One example from my life happened after 9/11. I read the story of 12 year old Sadako Sasaki, who died from atomic bomb disease ten years after Hiroshima. Before her death, she folded one thousand paper cranes for peace.  A Childrens Peace Statue was erected to remember Sadako and other children who were victims of the bombing. Today in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and other peace parks around the word, there are thousands of paper cranes sent by children all over the world.

I decided that this would be a great project for my kids’ school. After getting the art teacher on board, the project took on a life of its own. All 500 kids in the school were involved and they loved making the paper cranes and writing their own messages on them. More than 1,000 paper cranes were strung together and hung in the cafeteria for a few weeks before sending them to a peace park in California. They were a visual representation of the collective hopes for peace in this community.

Another example is from the writer, speaker, and coach Tara Sophia Mohr of Wise Living blog. I was first exposed to Tara’s work through The Girl Effect blogging campaign. Tara was moved by the message of The Girl Effect, an organization that helps to empower girls living in poverty. She said,

The Girl Effect campaign is about possibility, justice, and sending love across the world. That’s what my work as a writer and a coach is about too.

Tara could have left it at writing a blog post about the organization. But she took it one step further, issuing a challenge by asking other bloggers to write about The Girl Effect for Universal Childrens Day. More than 170 bloggers answered the call. Imagine the reach of that kind of effort. She didn’t have to take that one extra step but she did. That’s playing big.

Playing big is more powerful than we can possibly imagine.

I started reading more of Tara’s work and found a wise, compassionate woman. Her poetry, especially, is remarkable and touches me at a deep level. Another example of playing big, to begin the New Year 2011, she offered a free digital publication of poetry and artwork, called The Real Life, at her site. I don’t think you even had to give your email address. This gesture touched me as did her poetry and I shared the link with many of my women friends.

Freedom comes when we step, with both feet, onto the road toward our dreams not when we reach the destination.” ~ The Real Life, Tara Sophia Mohr

Playing big is generous.

For too long, my voice has been a quiet one. It reaches my inner circle of trusted friends and family. And sometimes it doesn’t speak up when it should. I’ve put my voice and my art out there in the blogosphere, but, I know there is more to do.

Can you feel the one deep inside your chest, who has existed forever? Who has made a thousand journeys? Who feels like a comet in the dark? ~ The Real Life, Tara Sophia Mohr

Playing big trusts the inner voice and confronts fear.

I am being prodded and poked to play bigger. A group called the Thriving Artists Project (now defunct), led by Melissa Dinwiddie, helped me come up with new ways to present my work and learn as I go. You don’t play big by having everything figured out in advance.

Seth Godin’s new book, Poke the Box*, keeps saying GO. Start. Do something.

And now Tara Sophia Mohr is starting a six month leadership program for women about playing big and I plan to be a part of it. If you’re like me, you’re probably playing big in some areas and not in others. Why don’t you join me in the Playing Big* program and we’ll help each other to just GO.

The doors will be open for registration Tuesday, March 15th, until Sunday, April 10th, but there will be special bonuses for registering this week (until Thursday, the 17th). Find out more at Playing Big*.

“On the other side, you are more beautiful: wholeness in your bones, wisdom in your gaze, the sage-self and the surrendered heart alive.”

More Posts on Playing Big by Tara Sophia Mohr
Playing Big
On Negotiation And Coming into the Light
Speaking Up

Freebies
10 Rules for Brilliant Women Workbook
The Real Life – Poetry by Tara Sophia Mohr; artwork by various artists

* Affiliate links, meaning I make a commission should you decide to purchase.

Image Credit: 1,000th Crane poster by vickisawyer