Joining GISH seemed like a good idea at the time.
A chance to flex my creative thinking muscles?
Check.
A chance to meet new people?
Check.
A chance to do some good in the world?
Check.
(A chance to support a fundraising endeavor of an actor I like? Also, check.)
GISH wears its weirdness on its sleeve — there’s no pretending to be a respectable, glamorous week-long, conference-style, networking event — that’s not GISH’s style. Instead, there’s an insane amount of Skittles, coffee grounds turned art, the monstrosity known as Feetloaf, hot glue gun burns, the band Kansas singing along to their most famous song with a bunch of off-key Zoom participants, and a chorus of “Dammit, Misha!”s. Also, the world’s most obnoxious bugle.
But GISH is more than just wacky antics. Beyond the unreasonable pain and suffering, the week’s worth of sleepless nights, and panicked cries of “but what do they mean by that?!” is a genuine curiosity. Can you make a working clock out of bratwurst? Is that even possible? How many people can you convince to stand out on their balconies and simultaneously howl at the moon? What’s the best way to adhere evergreen needles to your eyebrows without forcing you to lose the eyebrows when you remove them?
Can a group of misfits, crafters, artists, friends, family change the world one random act of silliness or kindness at a time?
The answer is yes.
It may not be huge, society-shattering change, but GISHers this year are donating their voices for those who cannot speak and are starting gardens in urban areas thanks to encouragement and tips from We Sow We Grow. The GISH International Forest is expanding for a second year and only the GISH Gnomes know how many trees have been planted in the name of GISH so far.
After two week-long hunts, and two mini-hunts, one of which was converted last minute into a teachable, grassroots activism moment to coincide with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, I have discovered that beneath the wacky exterior of GISH is something so simple yet so needed, especially now: love.
Love of joy. Love of art. Of crafts. Of curiosity. Of teamwork. Of charity. Of fun. Of kindness.
GISH is engineered at its core to be a place where no idea is too wacky, no artwork too unrefined. It’s a soft place to land among family if your Loch Ness Monster made of grains of salt don’t turn out the way you want. But it’s also The GISH Bunker, where year-round GISHers reach out to each other in their times of need.
That’s the power of GISH. And that’s why I’ll keep stanning this silly little scavenger hunt for as long as they run it. That’s why joining GISH was a good idea at the time.
I hope you join the family if you haven’t already.
#GISHMadeMeDoIT #DammitMisha
