The balloon became a symbol. But where did it come from?
It started with bubbles. Watching soap bubbles drift through the air as a child, I was fascinated by their perfection — the way they formed a sphere, the iridescence of the surface, the way they seemed to carry something precious and fragile inside.
A bubble is an optimization problem solved by nature. It minimizes surface area relative to volume. It is elegant. Efficient. Beautiful.
But a bubble is also fragile. It exists only briefly before the world pops it.
The balloon is different. A balloon is intentional. Someone chose to inflate it. Someone tied it off. Someone chose to release it or hold it.
### Why the Balloon?
The balloon 🎈 became a symbol for me of intentional lightness. The decision to carry something upward rather than letting it sink. The choice to add color and joy to a moment.
It is also a symbol of perspective. From the ground, a balloon is a point of light in the sky. From the balloon's vantage point, the whole landscape becomes visible.
The best decisions I have made in my life have been the ones that gave me a new vantage point. Starting a company. Moving to a new city. Meeting someone from a completely different world. Each of these was a balloon release — a deliberate choice to see from somewhere new.
### The Risk
Balloons can drift away. They can be lost. They can pop.
But staying on the ground, watching others drift up, is its own kind of loss.
The story of the balloon is ultimately a story about the courage to let go — to release what is heavy, and to rise.