 Photo: author's archive (a different encounter with a hedgehog) I felt disappointed. I realised I could have helped a woman in the rain. I was about to offer her to share my umbrella, but I was sure she was already home. When she ran on, I was sure that I had made a silly assumption. And to top it all off, we were going in the same direction.
I was starting to spin tales in my head of the awful person that I was when I looked down and saw a hedgehog. It was on a busy sidewalk with lots of traffic around. We had left the nearest park with my dog only minutes ago, but there were a few busy streets to cross. I had moved hedgehogs before but always with a kitchen mitten or something similar. I didn't have anything extra I could use on that spring morning, so I decided to put my hand under it as it had yet to curl into the safe shape of a ball. Slowly, while talking to it, with my dog right next to me, the hedgehog allowed me to lift it up without curling or puncturing me. During the five-minute walk under the safety of my umbrella, the little fella was rather curious about the experience, calmly looking around. The few people who passed us by were too preoccupied with their lives to notice the precious creature in my hand that sniffed from afar. As soon as we reached a fenced garden right next to the park, it started moving as if to show that this was its stop. I had seen hedgehogs there before, so I lowered it onto the grass on the other side of the fence. I petted its pointy nose to say goodbye and left. I felt light and warm as if the sun was suddenly shining again. I was exhilarated by this brief exchange of energy and trust. It turned out that my goodness had gone where it was needed more. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Parker Coffman on Unsplash My position and title cannot tell my story, and yet people want to put them front and centre. That's, at best, a tenth of who I am.
Be clear that it is your choice to classify me and all the others into boxes, but there's a lot more that you choose not to know. Instead, start by asking how we feel in our current place in life. You may be surprised by the depth of the reply. Caution! Only ask if you truly care to know. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by SAJAD FI on Unsplash A random man stopped me at the park to inform me about a great solution for gum problems. "Green tea!" he exclaimed, proudly mentioning that he had been doing it for years. He also asked if I was married and had kids before hastily rushing off, mentioning that he was late for work, not that I had asked or cared.
This entire exchange was both hilarious and creepy, yet strangely familiar. It felt like encountering a poorly executed marketing campaign that gathers a few demographics and proceeds to talk at you, assuming they know you, while aggressively presenting solutions to problems you don't actually have. If you're in a marketing role (and in a sense, we all are now), ensure that your message doesn't resemble that of a random stranger in the park. Your audience will notice your brand more when it truly reflects a positive presence in their lives. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Tansu Topuzoğlu on Unsplash 'Perfect moments' for me are more of a feeling than anything else. It's something that permeates your entire body, making each cell smile. These fleeting moments can vanish in an instant, or you can get lost in them indefinitely. The longer you remain lost in this realm, the stronger the core memory you will create.
Don't make the mistake of letting the moment slip away in your pursuit of the next one. Stay with it for as long as possible. The more frequently you allow yourself to get lost, the more often you will find yourself in this land of dreams. And if you so desire, you can journey back to what is now a part of you. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by NEOM on Unsplash I wish I knew the engine responsible for my dreams at night. The stories are often messy and weird, but I get the occasional pure gold too. I'm sure many vivid dreamers will relate.
If this engine were available to us in our waking hours, what kind of world would we be living in? Would it be more innovative or a lot weirder? Would it make any difference at all? Imagine a vast creative bank that is always at your disposal. How would you use it? And would you use it differently from all the other AIs out there? Where's the difference? Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Lesia on Unsplash Each of us has plenty that we can give to those around us and to the world.
The question is, in each interaction, what's the gift that we want to bring? Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Amauri Mejía on Unsplash There is so much we don't know, yet we continue to invent new things.
Some of us cannot make glass but can create outstanding sculptures out of it. Some of us cannot weave threads and fabrics but can produce beautiful garments out of them. We must appreciate what our ancestors have left us, even if we don't understand how to make it ourselves. And we should strive to leave something even better for those who follow. Who will in turn make it even better. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Ben Dutton on Unsplash Hype in my dog’s world is not a welcome state. The energy that is all over the place is not good for the pack and it is quickly corrected by the alpha. Puppies can have a taste of it but are often reminded that this is not the way to go in the long run.
Our tribes are not that far from the packs of animals. We once needed to control the group’s energy to ensure it was moving in the right direction and everyone was safe. But in our modern world, now that we don’t need the tribe so much, the once irregular feeling of hype is something we can actively seek. And we have made sure we have plenty of it. We sometimes call it a unique experience. A little bit of hype is fine to feel, but it cannot sustain anything in the long run. Yet, sustaining the calm inside gets the pack ahead. The same is true for us and our endeavours. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Drawing is hard. Each line you put down feels like a commitment that you cannot back out of. And yet, children do it without much thought until we tell them to be mindful.
Writing is hard. Each word feels like a commitment you cannot back out of. It is not a child's play and yet hundreds of new books find their way to bookshelves each year. Find what's hard. Master the rules. Make the moves intuitive and be granted the freedom to back out and recommit to something new until you feel it’s right. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring.  Photo by Adrian Mag on Unsplash One thing that I am not actively seeking but always hoping for is connection. True, genuine human connection.
There are moments when serendipitous connections have left a deep mark. Random conversations on planes and airports are some that I can easily recall (lucky that my headphones were not glued to my ears back then). Very few come to mind from purposeful networking events. It has to do a lot with how I show up and my mental state. Networking events are to this day stressful occasions for my ambivert personality. Not to mention that I am actually working, so there is the added stress of performing to the best of my abilities. But the moments before and after, when I find myself at an airport or a plane, I am in the perfect state of mind to explore and connect without any pressure. I follow the very familiar process that the environment offers and my mind wanders a lot. Just like being in the shower. And if I meet someone with a similar wandering mind - magic happens. Events need to be novel and offer new experiences. But there need to be bits that are easy and familiar so that the mind can get into that ripe state of wonder and awe. And real connections are certain to bloom. Stay inspired. Keep inspiring. |
MusingsWelcome to my daily writing space. I don't review courses and books here, but aim to give you short brain candy. By Month
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