That’s the real question…
“I hope you will go out and let stories happen to you, and that you will work them, water them with your blood and tears and your laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Yesterday, I shared my story of interacting with an old man undone by the grief of losing everyone he loved.
I got quite a few private email comments sharing what they would have done had they been me. One said it caused him to remember this great TED talk by Brené Brown:
Here’s the thing though, it could have been you.
The circumstance of right place/right time put me in the path of a total stranger, but these sorts of stories unfold around us all the time if we are open to them.
Those of you who know me well know that I’m about as introverted as one can be and yet there is something that seems to pull these kinds of interactions towards me.
It’s like the cat that seems to sense the most allergic person in the room to rub against.
You may have seen the story about Jamie Foxx saving a guy who’d been in an auto accident in front of his house. The guy’s truck caught on fire, and Jamie and another by-stander had to pull him free. They saved his life.
The man’s father broke down in tears as he tried to thank Jamie. He ended up in a bear hug like the one I wrote about yesterday.
It would have been easy for Jamie to simply call the fire department, or send one of his friends out, or just not have noticed at all.
But he put himself into a position where he would interact with life.
And that’s what I want you to do.
The more time you spend behind a desk, or in a sound studio, or inside your family room at home, the less time, the fewer opportunities you give life to grab you and surprise you.
You can call these random meetings fate, or luck, or a miracle or whatever you choose, but I know your life will be richer because of them.
And if your life is richer, so will be your content on-air.
We don’t know what our part in today’s play will be, but I know it will be smaller if you avoid the messiness of human involvement and interaction outside of your normal circle of friends.
Not all lives are saved in the same way.
And you might be surprised how your own life changes when you open yourself to the serendipity of connection.