The Gift of Discovery

The best discoveries I've ever made have been off the beaten path. Whether people, projects or places, the story has always been the same. Plan a journey, get forced (or sometimes choose to go) off course and cool things happen. Sometimes it's a conversation with a stranger. Sometimes it's an unplanned topic of conversation with a friend. Sometimes it's a wrong turn while running or biking in an unfamiliar town. And sometimes it's forcing myself to ask risky questions or to take the time to go the long way. But almost every time the outcome is the same. I meet interesting people, learn new points of view, see interesting things…and learn a whole lot along the way.

So even though I'm sometimes annoyed by the process of the detour, in the end I'm glad I took it.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself is the element of surprise through discovery. It only costs a bit of time and an open mind...rarely much else. I hope you let yourself wander…the journey is indeed priceless.

The Art of Gift Giving

The foundation of hospitality is gift giving...doing more for others than for yourself. What is often overlooked is timing...giving when it's most important for the recipient and not necessarily convenient for you. There's very little art in heaping on the expected smiles, catch phrases and giving someone trinkets. The art happens when you go out of your way to do something meaningful...for the moment. That's remarkable. Unfortunately, you can't do this by reading a script. It requires expertise in picking up clues and then acting upon them. Oddly enough, the clues are gifts themselves. So it becomes an exchange...call it improv. The key is to do something, to act, perhaps go out on a limb, to complete the exchange. Without action, the gift of the clue is wasted. What a shame. 

What makes the story of the video so remarkable is the surprise action by the young man at the end. The real heros might be his parents...thank you.