November 2021. In some forgotten offices a name suddenly breaks the silence: “Iris!” a voice is heard from somewhere in the background. They look at each other for a moment. They look around the room in question. The name, as far as they know, does not belong to anyone there.
“Iris!” someone repeats timidly from the other end of the room.
“Iris!” a third one is heard saying.
“Iris!”, “Iris!”, “Iris!”. Little by little the name comes out of every mouth in the small room, but no one responds. No Iris shows up, yet they continue to repeat, without worrying that no one is responding to their call.
“Iris, it is!” A female voice is heard on top of the others and for a few seconds the room is silent. And then, applause. And in the frenzy of enthusiasm that prevails at that moment, somewhere in the background, a curtain opens.
On that November morning, we shouted “Iris!” hoping it would become more than just a name for us. And so it was. On April 10, 2022, Iris came to life inside the AUTH ceremony hall. She became all that she was intertwined with: divinity, messenger, link between gods and mortals, personification of the rainbow, path to light, exploration of our own aspects, ode to diversity, human need for communication and contact. She became all of these and more. And we promised ourselves that the same would happen to those who would “touch” her with us.
That day, an amalgam of different rays of light unveiled the most beautiful colors in the sky. While the world around continued its course, in that part of the city something was happening. Do you want to call it a celebration? Do you want to call it an experience? Call it as you want, the point doesn’t change. On that day, there was something happening that was going to change us as people. Or had it already done so?
Because the truth is that TEDx can transform a person. Perhaps, if I hadn’t experienced what I experienced in those months of preparation and that day in April, I would be skeptical about it. But now I am absolutely sure. Yes, it can change you. And these 11 people, who went up on stage and represented our own Iris, inspired us, each one in their own way. They left their mark on us. They became a part of us. Each one of them taught us something different. And we learned so much that, if I tried to put it into lines, I would fill pages. That is why I will mention only a few of them.
Eleonora taught us that there may be few of us who feel the things that happen around us, who get hurt, who are troubled by them, but our sensitivity is very strong and the gathering of us all can create a core of people that will really be able to drag the others along this journey, that is the path towards the light.
Alexandra told us that life is completely inexplicable. It is unpredictable, it is not really governed by any rules, there is not even an objective reality. Life is whatever it is. And this hurts us existentially.
Kostas taught us that spontaneity does not mean doing anything, anytime, in any way that comes into one’s head. Spontaneity, as strange as it sounds, is doing the right thing at the right time.
But it wasn’t only those 11 who changed us. Because, behind these 11 people, there were about 100 others. Another 100 who became responsible for these 11 to stand on stage and speak their stories courageously. All plans, imagination, meetings, and discussions stopped being closed behind the four walls of some cold room. They turned from intangible ideas on paper, into one of the strongest memories of those who were even the smallest part of the day. It was them, those 100 who worked day and night to “give birth” to Iris. It was those ones who laughed, who cried, who argued and then reconciled, who created friendships, who loved each other, who got tired and stayed up late, who struggled, who got emotional and who, finally, succeeded.
And, as one of those 100, I can tell you with confidence that we built an Iris more beautiful than any other could have ever been built. We put our own colors on the rainbow and those colors were a lot more than what the human eye knows. All kinds of tones and hues, different for each of us in the places where we stand out and the same in the places where we are the same. And, in the end, we beheld an Iris as unique as each of us who were a part of it.
April 2022.
“Iris!”.
It was the last thing heard on stage. And if there was absolute silence in that room, one could hear a voice whispering “Yes!”
*And that voice was the most magical answer that could have been heard.
And, somewhere in the background, a curtain closed.